The devil and the unicorn
by Lijster
Summary: Dante and Patty find a unicorn in who turns into a young female after sunset. What mystery holds this creature? And will Dante be able to help her? DanteXOC RandR /rating might go  up\
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Uploading renewed versions of all chapters...hope some of you are still interested )

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**-Chapter 1-**

"You still owe me two more ice creams, Dante!" Patty said as she licked the last remaining cold fluid from her ice cream cone.

Dante sighed heavily, bleu orbs fixated on the dark street before them. It was just after 6 pm, but now that the days became shorter, due to the upcoming winter. The darkness claimed more daylight with each passing day.

"Did you hear what I said?" Patty asked, chewing on a piece of her cone. Her eyes looked up at Dante rather challenging. This little girl always seemed to push him a little bit further, and to think that he didn't even like kids all that much…

"Yeah yeah, I heard ya." Dante waved her off and dug his hands deeply into the pockets of his long red trench coat. Where he was going to find the money to buy her those, he didn't know. Ever since the incident at the mall, he was in more dept then ever before.

How could he have known that the clothing store he decided to blow the devil up in, was Gucci and that those clothes were unique and, as the shop attended told him, 'irreplaceable'. Dante had just figured, since they were the once who called him in the first place, they sure wouldn't mind if he killed the deadly devil right there in the shop.

Guess he was wrong…

And he didn't even get his fee for the job. Morrison decided that it was best to take it right off his dept, so that way he wouldn't be able to spent 'money he didn't have', or so Morrison told him. Man, would Dante have loved to break his scrawny little neck. But then again, the man did provide him most of his jobs…not that they brought him any payment most of the time.

The pair kept on walking in the direction of the orphanage where Dante had promised to drop Patty off, before going back to his own home. He had complained, since the location of the orphanage was way out of his direction, but he couldn't send the girl home by herself. The streets were rather empty for such an early evening, but then again it was getting darker by the day and humans usually didn't like going out in the dark on their own. The few people they did pass tossed quick glances over their shoulders at the sight of Dante and Patty.

The couple must've looked pretty funny tot them, since Dante was quite tall and rather tough looking, while Patty was at least three heads shorter and dressed in one of her 'cute' little frilly dresses with pink and white everywhere and a pink cap on her head to top it off. It did look kind of ridicules, those two together.

They passed the park that lay across the street from them, which indicated that the orphanage was just around the corner. This much to Dante's relieve. The man's pace subconsciously quickened, determined to bring the bossy girl home as soon as possible so he could crash down on his couch to fall asleep for the rest of the evening.

Dante was quite looking forward to this, his mind set on a quiet little evening when he suddenly realized that Patty was no longer walking by his side. The white haired man stopped dead in his tracks, turning around slightly. His blue orbs scanned the darkening surroundings. He discovered Patty, standing just a few feet away, her eyes seemingly set on something in the park across the street.

"Patty, let's go." he demanded rather impatient. She was not going to ruin his evening just because, he assumed, she saw the playground in the park. Yet the girl was not responding to his voice. "Hey brat, come on. We're almost there." He was now standing beside her, placing a heavy gloved hand on her shoulder.

Patty, still not responding, kept her eyes set on a sight in the park.

Dante frowned and followed her gaze, not really seeing anything out of the ordinary. "Patty, what's wrong?" he felt quite hesitant to ask her this, because now he knew she was going to drag him into the park to check this 'something' she'd probably seen, out.

"I thought I saw…" she started, tearing her eyes away from the dark shadowy park and looking up at him. "I thought…"

"You thought?" he urged, not really caring, but pretending to do so anyway.

Patty turned her head towards the same spot again and started walking towards it, grabbing Dante's arm as she did so. "I'll show you."

_Oh boy, here we go again._

Dante didn't move an inch, which resulted in Patty trying her best to pull him forward. The girl would probably have had more luck trying to move a brick wall. "Come on Dante! I saw something! I'm sure of it!"

Dante yawned, growing bored. His couch was now 'really' calling for him, and so he started walking towards the orphanage, pulling Patty with him in the process.

"Dante stop! I saw something! I saw a unicorn!" Patty exclaimed childishly while trying to pull herself free. It drew the attention of a passer by who stood still and watched the scene with raised eyebrows.

"Sugar high." Dante explained him with a shrug of his shoulders. Patty continued on resisting.

"I saw a unicorn, Dante, stop!"

Dante chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah right, and fairies are taking over the world."

"Dante!" the little girl punched his upper arm with her little fists, not that it really hurt him. "I'm serious."

"Me too." he replied turning around, ready to pick the girl up by her waist and throwing her over his shoulder. She was making his arm rather tired with all the pulling she had been doing. And besides, the sun had almost set, and he had promised the non he'd bring Patty back by nightfall. Just when he was about to grab the little squirming girl, a shimmer of pearly white caught his eye across the street. It had flickered between the shadows of the trees, only for a few seconds, before it had disappeared again, but it was enough for Dante to pique his interest.

Patty noticed the man's hesitation.

"Told you!" she said, as soon as she saw the curiosity on the man's face.

Dante narrowed his eyes and scanned the park, but the pearly white appearance was no where to be seen.

"Let's go check it out." Patty said again, crossing the street with Dante now trailing on behind her.

As soon as they set foot in the park, Dante could feel some sort of presence that seemed demonic. He frowned and kept a hand near one of the guns he hid under his trench coat. With his other hand he grabbed Patty by her shoulder and pulled her closer. He wasn't really keen on the little girl being here now that danger was on the lookout, but he couldn't leave her behind. Besides, if he did leave her behind, she would probably go out and explore the park on her own.

As they stepped off of the path that curved through the 'woods' and walked between the trees, Dante could've sworn he heard a wolf howling in the distance. It rather disturbed him. The park wasn't all 'that' big and was located in the middle of a bustling city. It certainly was no place for a wolf.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large pure white figure came galloping anxiously between the trees, making the two stop dead in their tracks. The creature dodged every tree swiftly and with grace, but it seemed terrified and on the run for something horrible. It's long white manes and white lion like tail waved on behind it. Its pure white fur was shining in a hypnotizing way in the light of the almost set sun. The creature was smaller then a horse, more elegant then a graceful pony. It could not even be described as a horse, unless someone would want to insult this creature. For it was far more beautiful then anything in the entire world. Patty stared at the creature, her mouth agape. To her, it did look like a horse and it was the most stunning horse she had ever seen. For a child's vocabulary is to limited to give it any other name. But to Dante, the long twisted and pointy horn that stuck straight out of it's forehead, was what caught his attention the most.

Patty had not been lying when she said she'd seen a unicorn. Dante didn't know those creatures actually excited outside of fairytales, but then again…he'd seen a lot of weird stuff in his life. Adding an actual unicorn to his list shouldn't be all that surprising.

"Dante, it looks really scared." Patty almost whispered, not being able to use her voice properly.

Just then the sun disappeared behind the horizon, cloaking the city with darkness. The only light coming from the moon and the street lanterns, scattered across the city. As if on cue, a shimmery white light expanded from the unicorns body, leaving Dante and Patty blinded. Protecting his eyes and Patty's from the light, he held his arm in front of his eyes and placed his other gloved hand over Patty's face. Dante himself was able to peek over his sleeve and notice to his great surprise, that right before the light died, a naked humanly figure came crashing down gracefully to the muddy soil. When the light was gone, so was the unicorn. With his hand still covering Patty's face, keeping her from her sight, Dante stared wide eyed at the naked figure a few feet away from them in shock.

Lying motionless in the mud before them was a young woman with pearly long white hair, pale porcelain skin, and the most perfect figure he had ever seen in his life. Her face was turned away from them. She was lying on her front with her slim perfectly lined back turned their way. Her hair was spread out behind her like a fan.

Patty, who was trying to tear off Dante's hand of her face, was growing quite restless. "Dante what happened, let me see?"

Dante lowered his hand, but kept his gaze in the womanly form, her appearance intoxicating him.

"Oh my god!" Patty exclaimed when she noticed the white female where only one minute ago the unicorn had been. She ran towards the female, kneeling down beside her with her hands millimetres above the skin of her back and shoulder, hesitant to touch her, afraid that she might hurt the woman in some way.

Dante came standing beside Patty, his blue orbs travelling shamelessly over the woman's body. She looked incredibly fragile, her porcelain skin shining white in the shimmery light of the moon. He could feel his face heat up just at the sight of her. It left him somewhat dumbstruck, as all he could do was stare while Patty helplessly tried to come to the female's aid.

Who was she?

"Don't just stand there, Dante! Help me out!" Patty exclaimed, letting out an annoyed sigh because of Dante's mental absence. "Men." she whispered under her breath, shaking her head as she did so.

Dante shook himself back to life and took of his trench coat, revealing his huge pair of gun's hanging on each side of his upper legs and the black shirt underneath. With the upmost care he placed his red coat on top of the girl, covering most of her naked form up. Attentively he put his hands under her upper legs and back and picked her up from the soil carefully, but with ease. She weight barely nothing, compared to his strength.

Her head turned limply towards him, her forehead now leaning on his broad chest. Dante's eye scanned the impossible perfect formed face in awe, but was snapped back to reality when Patty tugged on his shirt.

"She has to go someplace warm. She'll get sick if she stays out in the cold like this." Patty said, with concern written all over her face. Dante agreed, it surely was unhealthy to stay out in the cold while wearing no clothing whatsoever. "We'll take her with us." he said and started walking towards the path that would take them out of the woods, his headquarters as a destination.

Patty followed him closely, holding his shirt in the process. The woods were somehow giving her an eerie feeling. Chills went up and down her spine every time she heard something crack behind her. She felt safer when she was closer to Dante.

Hiding in the darkness and protection of a thick bush, two shiny yellow eyes watched the threesome leave the park in displease. His clear white teeth shone dangerously sharp in the moonlight and he let out a soft and angry growl. He had been so close this time, and yet she had managed to escape his claws again. He was growing furious as she had almost been his and now she was lying in the arms of the well known Dante, half demon, and devil hunter. To get her was going to be one hell of a challenge…

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R and R


	2. Chapter 2

**-Chapter 2-**

The heavy doors of Dantes shop were pushed open, and Patty stepped into the spacious room.

With her back she held open one of the doors so Dante could enter. He was still carrying the limp body of an unknown mysterious female in his arms, who was dressed in only his red coat.

Swiftly he placed her down on his worn out couch, pulling the fabric of the coat further over her naked abdomen. Dante stood up and ran a hand trough his silvery hair, long bangs falling back in front of his eyes as soon as he pulled his hand back.

Patty took a seat in one of the armchairs standing near the couch, her eyes fixated on the ,apparently, sleeping female on the couch.

"She must be exhausted." Patty breathed, staring at the females face in awe. Soon something on the woman's forehead caught her attention en she sat up in curiosity. "Hey, what's that?" The little girl pointed towards a shiny white something that shone between the pearl coloured bangs of the sleeping woman.

Dante frowned when he noticed it too. He knelt down the couch's side and carefully pulled away the silky soft bangs that covered the woman's forehead. Right above her eyes, in the middle of her forehead shone a small diamond like stone that seemed to arise from her skin. It was something Dante had never seen on any demon before and it made him wonder what it was. Carefully he reached a finger towards the rock. It was as if it was calling for him, hypnotizing the devil hunter, begging for him to touch it.

"Careful." Patty said in fear, jumping off of her seat and now standing behind Dante, peeking over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"…I don't know." Dante said, taking back his self-control, pulling back his hand. There was something about the whole situation he did not trust. Disappearing unicorns and hypnotizing diamonds…this woman better had some answers ready for him when she woke up. He stood back up and grabbed Patty lightly by her arm. "Now let's go and bring you home." he said, ready to walk over to his door, was it not for Patty to stand foot.

"No way! I'm staying here." she insisted.

Dante kept on pulling her towards the door. "Not going to happen."

"We can't just leave her alone you know. Whatever was after her, might come here." the young girl shot back cleverly. She tried to cross her arms triumphantly, was it not for Dante who was still holding her arm.

Dante paused and looked down at Patty from over his shoulder. Damn it, she was right…He couldn't just leave the naked mystery girl lying on his couch, there for the grabbing. What if she woke up and left? What if the something, that was after her, did come here and he was not there? What if he wouldn't get the answers to his questions?  
The half demon sighed in frustration and let go of Patty's arm. "Fine." he said in a tiresome voice. "But when the orphanage calls, you're taking the blame." The man walked over to his desk where he plopped down on his chair, kicking his feet up his desk, crossing his legs in the progress. He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back with a yawn. "Goodnight."

Patty looked at him in surprise. "Hey! Where am I going to sleep?" she exclaimed.

"Figure it out yourself." Dante said lazily, followed by another loud yawn.

The girl shook her head, mumbling something about men being irresponsible and started pacing the area for a place to sleep. Soon Patty found herself cradled up in the armchair she had been sitting in a few minutes ago, closing her eyes slowly and drifting into a slumber.

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Two dark brown orbs slowly revealed themselves from behind eyelids. They were greeted by a grey darkness. The only light entering the building was the light of the moon through the window above the door and the windows on each of it's sides. Two thin white haired eyebrows met in a frown and a figure sat up from the unknown couch she was lying on. The red trench coat that had been draped over her, slid off her shoulders, revealing the pale white skin underneath.

She shivered.

It was cold and her human skin responded with goose bumps. With her delicate slim hands she pulled the coat back up, pulling it over her shoulders once more. Her head turned slightly to the left and she sniffed, it was followed by a deeper frown. Slowly she moved her legs and placed her feet on the cold tiles on the floor, her dark brown eyes still scanning her new environment.

Where was she?

"Well good evening." a deep voice said from behind. Alarmed, she rapidly jumped off the couch en turned around only to be met with shining light blue eyes. Breath caught up in her throat and she moved backwards, missing the side table by less then an inch. Dante watched her every move. It surprised him that, even though he assumed she was nervous, her movements were still very fluent and graceful.

The female's eyes scanned the area, probably searching for a way out.

"You're safe here, don't worry." Dante said in his typical carefree voice and stretched his long arms above his head sleepily.

The female clutched the sides of the coat with her hands. She tilted her head slightly to a side and watched him through narrowed eyes. "You're a demon." she said in a melodic voice that echoed through Dante's head. A voice that sounded steady and fearless even though her eyes looked like those of a deer caught in a headlight.

Dante sat up in surprise and looked at her from aside in suspicion. "How did you know?"

The woman's eyes noticed Patty, still soundless asleep in the armchair, before locking them on Dante once again. "I can tell." she said. "I don't trust demons you know…"

Dante chuckled and shrugged. "Yeah, I'll give ya that one. Never trust a demon. But it sounds pretty rich, coming from one..." He stated with a smirk and stood up from his chair, which made the girl immediately take a step back. Her head titled to a side and her eyes narrowed into slits, never leaving his.

"I am not a demon." she stated in a fierce voice.

Dante raised his eyebrows slightly, and took a step forward. The female took another step back.

He had observed before, when he had carried her to his shop, that she was quite small of size. He noticed that she had a fragile built and now that she was standing up she appeared to be almost a head shorter than him.

"Stay there." she warned, the small diamond stone on her forehead shining more brightly then before. She could sense a powerful energy coming from him that overwhelmed her. Dante frowned at the sight. "What is that thing on your forehead?" he asked nodding towards the diamond, taking a step forward in curiosity and therefore ignoring her warning.

"**Stay there**." she repeated stern, her eyes scanning his face. Dante took one more step before he stopped; now standing only 4 feet away. Her eyes were such a dark colour of brown that he couldn't tear his own eyes away from them. It was like she was looking straight into his soul, peering into his mind, suffocating him with those deep dark brown eyes that seem to hold no reflection. It was like a big dark brown pool of nothingness.

He found himself unable to move, as if he was hypnotized. "What…are you doing?" he asked in slight concern.

The female blinked and removed her eyes, staring down at her feet now. "I should thank you for saving me, Dante." she replied looking up at him shyly.

Dante raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ah, so you're a mind reader, hm?" he confirmed. "Mind telling me a little something about yourself? Now that you've looked inside my head, it seems only fair, right?" It wasn't as much as a question as it was a demand.

The female chewed on her lower lip in hesitation, but hearing the demanding tone of voice from the man didn't really leave her with much choice.

"I'm…Maia." she introduced herself, although she seemed a bit uneasy calling out her name.

Before Dante could react, they were brutally interrupted by a forgotten presence in the room.

"You're awake!" the girly voice of Patty exclaimed. The little girl, who was now sitting up straight, stared at Maia in amazement.

Maia looked at the girl in surprise, but soon a small smile appeared on her face. "Yes I am."

Dante frowned somewhat at the sight of Maia calming down with Patty now awake. Maybe it was because Patty was a human?

"How are you doing?" the child asked with a worried expression on her face, remembering the state in which they had found her.

Maia's smile grew warmer, taking Patty's worry away, and she nodded. "I'm fine." She made quick eye contact with Dante who was still watching her closely, but she seemed more relaxed now.

"If you're okay, then why were you running?" Patty's voice was much calmer now.

Maia's smile disappeared and her eyes became visibly sad. "You weren't supposed to safe me." she said, her eyes cast on the floor in…was it defeat? "He almost caught me, and I let him…"

"Let who?" Dante found himself asking before Patty could respond.

Maia slowly looked up at him, suddenly looking awfully tired. "Nergal."

Patty shook her head, clearly not understanding what this was about. Dante, on the other hand, had a faint hunch.

"Who is that? And why would he want to catch you?" Patty asked in disbelief, not comprehending why anyone would want to catch and hurt someone like Maia. She looked to pure and kind hearted to have done anything wrong.

"He's..." Maia hesitated, staring off into space as if she was scanning her mind for the right words. "He's after my blood."

Patty's breath caught up in her throat in shock and she looked over at Dante, terrified.

"What, so this guy is a vampire?" Dante simply responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, not really…He takes different forms, but he prefers the shape of a werewolf." Maia explained, thinking out loud.

Dante chuckled. "Now I've heard everything. Next you're gonna tell me that lepricons are real too."

Maia smiled slightly and shook her head. "I know it's hard to believe."

The half bred smirked.

Patty looked from Maia to Dante and back with a confused expression on her face. "But why would this Norgol."

"Nergal." Maia corrected her.

"Nergal…drink your blood? And why were you a unicorn back in the park?" Patty sat on the edge of her seat as she asked those questions.

Maia sighed heavily and her shoulders fell, she really did look like a defeated person. "Because when a person drinks the blood of a unicorn, they are granted with immortality. Although it would be a cursed life, filled with lust and hunger for more, the fact that it's eternal still makes it desirable for some…"

"So he changed you into this creature?" Patty asked astonished.

Maia nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, sadly enough. I do change back though."

Patty sighed dreamily and stared off into the distance. "I would love being a creature like that."

Maia frowned and tilted her head to a side to look at Patty more closely. "What are you talking about? You are already, aren't you?" she said, wondering if her senses had gone bad or something.

Patty blinked. "What? No I'm not."

Dante pushed himself off the side of his desk he had been sitting on and walked over to the couch where he settled himself down. "She's talking about being a unicorn." he explained. "Maia is not human."

Patty looked at Maia with a frown, the information visibly rising above her head. It was just to much to cope with for the little girl's brain.

"So you change back?" Dante continued, not paying attention to Patty who was trying to connect the wires.

Maia nodded. "Yes, when the sun rises…I change back into my...original form."

Looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling, his head resting on the side of the couch, repeated what she had said softly. "So when the sun sets…" he contemplated out loud.

"I turn into a human." she filled in with a small sad smile.

Dante nodded calmly, looking at the female in front of him. The story sounded quite crazy to him and something in the way she told it, made it hard for him to fully believe it.

"Why would he turn you into a human…?" Dante asked in wonder. His eyes narrowed as she started to pace around, taking small steps at the time, but doing so with the upmost elegance. It seemed like she was used to walking on two's, making him question if she really wasn't human after all, instead of the other way around…

"Because I am weaker in a human form. Humans are not really that strong, you know? I can't use my horn, nor heal as fast and I can't move as swiftly either. For a creature like me being stuck in a frail human body…is hell." She could feel the hot salty water sting her eyes and soon a single tear rolled gently down her cheek. "I was about to give up on running…" she began, biting her lip, reluctant to continue, but doing so anyway. "I have been running for almost a year now. He was so close tonight…I could almost taste the sweetness of surrender." She looked exhausted standing there in the moonlight that shone through the window.

Dante remained silent, lost in his own thoughts. Mostly thinking about what mess he got himself into now.

Patty took this opportunity to stand up and walk over to Maia, wrapping her arms around her small waist. It made Maia jolt in surprise, but soon she relaxed into the arms of the young child.

"You're safe here, Maia. Dante will protect you."

This made the white haired man look up in surprise. "Excuse me?"

Maia smiled at Patty, placing a hand on top of her head. She removed the pink cap, dropping it to the floor, so that she could run her hands through the curly blonde hair in a motherly way. "It's okay. I can take care of myself."

Dante snorted and shook his head, laying his arms on top of the back of the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him. "Yeah, we saw that."

Patty simply ignored him, like she taught herself to ignore him over the period of time that she knew him. "You have to stay here! That Nergel won't chase you when you're here."

Maia smiled at the innocence in the girl's voice and shook her head. "No, time is running out. Soon, it won't matter to him anymore where I am."

This piqued Dante's curiosity once again. "What do you mean?" he asked, removing his head from the backside so he could look at her.

"His need to survive is stronger then his fear. Like I said, Nergal is aging during his stay on earth. He lives approximately 12 full moons. That's about one year…If he doesn't feed on my blood before the 12th full moon has cast, he will die and go back to the demon world."

"And when he dies?" Dante asked.

"I will return to my normal self." she replied, her eyes staring off into the distance as if it were a dream beyond reach.

* * *

After hearing such a story, Dante agreed on letting her stay for the night and even granted her to sleep in his bed. Not that it was his idea, Patty had already escort her to the first floor before he could protest. But then again, he always did prefer his couch anyway.

The whole situation with Maia got him puzzled though. He had never heard of this Nergal demon before and wondered if there was more behind this creature's desire to grand eternal life in the human world. If the blood of a unicorn really did curse the one who drinks it, there must be something more behind it then Maia let on.

Patty remained upstairs, sleeping peacefully in Dante's bed with Maia beside her. The white blonde haired female was stroking the little girl's hair absentminded. It was a pleasant thought that she could rest here safely for tonight, but she couldn't endanger these people's life's with her presence. Nergal wouldn't think twice on killing off the little girl beside her and even though Dante looked really powerful, she wasn't sure if he could take on a demon like Nergal, for he had many sly ways of getting what he wanted.

And what he wanted was her. Her dark blue orbs looked out the window and up at the starry night. The moon shone brightly and was almost full. Only one more full moon left after this one… Maia wasn't sure if she could last that long.

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R and R please


	3. Chapter 3

**-Chapter 3-**

The devil hunter found himself unable to sleep as he fell in and out of slumber every now and then.

His calves were resting on the armrest of the couch and his feet were sticking out over the edge. His head lay on the other side, hands folded underneath and his elbows sticking out sideways.

He hated not being able to sleep properly at night when he wanted to. Maybe he needed to cut off on the afternoon naps he'd been taking those past couple of weeks. Closing his shining blue eyes, Dante once again tried to doze off. It actually seemed to work this time, were it not for the flickering street lantern that stood right outside of his building. Dante sighed out of frustration. It was becoming lighter, so maybe he should just give up on sleeping for tonight. Dante let out an annoyed groan and pulled himself upward.

He yawned and stretched his strong arms above his head, while scanning his living/work area. His eyes came to a halt when it met a head of white blonde hair standing just a feet away from the couch he was sitting on. He stopped yawning, his arms still in the air as he watched the figure. It was dressed in one of his black T-shirts; Patty probably gave that to her. It reached down just below her butt, showing her long very slim legs. She stood there standing perfectly motionless as if by standing still he wouldn't see her. The devil hunter blinked and lowered his arms while letting out a chuckle.

"Damn it." Maia cursed, much to Dante's surprise. She sighed as she turned towards him, her brow furrowed and her lips forming a small pout. Actually, she looked kind of cute like that.

"Quite an achievement." Dante complimented, nodding his head approvingly. "Usually I notice when someone is nearby. You I didn't notice at all."

Maia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes well, that was before you woke up."

He laughed, tossing his head back a bit and placed his gloveless hands on his upper legs to push himself off the couch. "That's true." he said, taking a step to close the large space between them. "So, where are you going?" His eyes looked at her curiously.

Maia found her breath caught up in her throat now that he was so nearby. She knew he wouldn't harm her or anything, but she still wasn't used to the fact that a devil…or rather half devil, would treat her like this without plotting some scheme.

Maia bit her lip and looked towards the exit. "I'm…" she started, her dark eyes now staring up at him. "It's almost day…So I guess it's time for me to leave."

Dante studied her face in thought. "Really…"

Maia nodded lightly, a small smile played her lips. "Yes."

"Well then…" Dante started hesitant, eyes lingering on her doll like face before they trailed down to her t-shirt covered body. He didn't really know how to respond to her, but Dante being Dante, he would always figure something out. "Leave the shirt." he said, smirking at the shocked expression on her face.

The female blinked at him before looking down at the shirt she was wearing. The little girl had given it to her to sleep in. A playful smile played on her lips and she looked up at him in innocence. "Why? Is this yours?"

A chuckle escaped his throat, eying her in amusement. "Yeah, yes it is." Her flirty comment seemed to have startled him at first, as if he hadn't expected her to know such a human approach. It made him wonder again if she wasn't some sort of humane creature, that was turned into a unicorn.

Maia pursed her lips and shrugged. "Alright then." She crossed her arms, placing her hands on the rim of the shirt, and pulled it over her head, thus exposing her bare skin underneath.

"Eh…" the man began to protest, but found himself at a loss for words. Dante's eyes widened as he watched her take off the shirt. He had actually been joking about her leaving it, but she apparently took it seriously.

"There you go." she said in triumph, letting the shirt drip down on the couch. "All yours." She gave him a wink and turned around to parade out of the building; no shame whatsoever. Lucky for her, not many people were out on the streets yet, so she was able to get away without being noticed.

Dante swallowed away a lump in his throat; her naked figure now permanently burned on his cornea, not that he was complaining, and let out the air that had been stuck in his lungs. "And now for a cold shower…" he mumbled as he set course for the bathroom.

When Patty awoke and found herself alone in bed, she was rather displeased. Especially when Dante told her he let Maia go.

"How could you!" the little girl yelled in her high pitched voice. "What if that devil comes after her again!"

Dante, who was enjoying his margarita pizza for breakfast, carelessly shrugged. "He wont."

Patty crossed her arms and glared at him. "You don't know that!"

Dante just shook his head. The girl clearly forgot what Maia had said the night before. She was much stronger when she's in her original form. That demon will most likely only try to harm her when she's was in her human form.

Patty crossed her arms over her chest, upset, and gave a childish pout. "How can you be so sure?"

The white haired man shoved another pizza piece into his mouth and held up his hands. "Imfp nfph."(_I'm not_) he said in a muffled voice, small pieces of pizza falling out of his mouth

"Ehw! Don't talk with your mouth full!"

After Dante had slowly dispatched himself of Patty, telling her that if she didn't leave soon the cops would probably turn up on his doorstep asking him if he'd seen this little girl, Dante left himself with his normal day of work. Which was…not much. With a magazine pulled in front of his face and rock music coming out of his juxbox on the background, Dante decided spend his day. That was untill he was interrupted ofcourse...

"Goodafternoon." a familiar voice said.

Dante lowered his magazine just so he could look over the top, only to notice that Morrison had arrived.

The man was standing in front of his desk. "I take it you haven't read or heard the news today?" he said, eying the 'book' in Dante's hands.

Dante flipped a page and continued reading. "Not really...Why should I. The news always seems to find it's way back here. Reading it myself would just be a waste of time."

Morrison shook his head in disaproval and sighed. He should've have brought it up in the first place, it was a lost case to begin with.

Dante gave the man a glance and, after finishing the page, he closed the magazine and tossed it on his desk, crossing his arms afterwards. "So, what brings you here?"

He took his brown cowboylike hat off and placed it on the side of Dante's bureau and took a seat in the chair that was safed for costumers. "A job, with a nice fee." he answered, adding that last part quickly.

The devil hunter nodded in interest, guesturing for the man to continue.

Morrison, who took his time to take of his dark brown overcoat first, slowly went on with his story. "These last couple of days the police has been getting reports of several local citizens being attacked. Apperently it has been going on for a week now, the first calls being reports from attacks that happened at night, after sundown. But lately there have been more events happening over day."

"And did they happen to tell who or what the attackers were?" Dante asked, eying Morrison from aside. Clearly he was curious.

"Yes." Morrison said, glad he got the attention of the white haired man. Let's just hope it'll stay that way. "They were attacked...by cats and dogs."

Dante blinked. Had he just heard that correctly? "Excuse me?" Dante looked at Morrison as if he had gone mad. "Cats and dogs?"

Morrison just nodded.

"You're coming here because of some housepets running amoc?" Dante leaned back and slowly shook his head, grabbing his magazine in the proces and reopening it, waving his hand in the air dismissevly. "Call the pound."

"But there's another aspect to this story." Morrison tried again, watching the devil hunter carefully.

"Hmhm." Dante mumbled, not looking up from the pictures.

The moustached man sighed and stood up, taking his hat from Dantes desk. He put the hat back on his head and grabbed his coat, draping it over his arm and holding it in front of his chest. "Witnesses reported that those cats and dogs had shining red eyes."

Dante blinked and lowered his magazine. "Say what?"

* * *

The schoolbell rang at a local primary school, signaling that the classes for today had come to an end. Whitin seconds the schoolplayground was swarming with young childeren, who were soon scattered across the city, going home with their parents or out to play with some friends.

Yet there was one little boy who remained on school grounds. Somberley he looked at his classmates one by one being picked up from school, leaving him behind on the stone staircase that let to the entrance of their school. His father had again forgotten to pick him up. He couldn´t blame his dad though, he had been really busy with work since his mother passed away. The boy had been told more then needed how important that job was to his father and how he should not get in the way.

The sky was turning darker, due to gathering clouds signaling that it was probably going to start raining soon.

The little boy looked down at his sneakers and sighed, pulling his backpack a little higher on his back. He rose to his feet and started walking over the emtpy schoolyard towards the front gate. It was a long walk, since his house was at least 5 blocks from the school, but he was used to it. Little droplets of water fell from one by one on the pavement. The boy rose his brownhaired head looking up to the sky, just to see the last sunray been blocked out by one of the heavy grey clouds. A drop fell on the boy´s nose and he blinked, bending his head back forward and removing the water with his finger. He had learned a shortcut through the park, which he had found all by himself. Days like these gave that shortcut an appealing thought, even though the boy didn´t really like the woods.

The young boy soon passed the deserted playground that was located at the edge of the park. His feet shuffeld over the ground and kicked a small rock that lay in front of him. The rock shot away and came in contact with a large pipe, which was used for kids to climb in, with a loud thud. A high bark was heard from the pipe after the thud resounded and the boy looked up in surprise, standing still in place.

Just when he thought that he might not have heard it correctly, there was another bark. Curiosity got the better of him and he started walking towards the pipe with caution. As he kneeled down the opening he peered inside and noticed a small little puppy in the middle of it, who was probably shielding himself from the rain.

The boy smiled and held out his hand. "Hey there little guy." his childish voice said and his smile grew warmer as the puppy made a sad whine. "It's okay, come on." the boy invited him, patting his upper knees as he was now sitting in the dirt. "Come here boy. It's alright, don't be scared."

The pup whined again but slowly came into movement. It looked cold and scared as it crept closer, his eyes shining in the darkness of the pipe.

"Come here…come o…" the boy's vioce died as he noticed that the puppy's eyes had just shone brightly red for a few seconds and somehow it hadn't looked so innocent as it did before at that moment. Still the puppy came closer even though he was not calling him anymore and his eyes flickered brightly red for more then those few seconds now. It's white little teeth started to show when it was mere meters away, turning the smiling eyes of the boy into a frown. He could feel his heart beating rapidly.

Something was not right…

Just as the boy was about to stand up and walk away from this weird puppy, the dog started to growl deeply. It sounded like it came from deep within the dog, sending cold shivers down the boy's spine.

He was unable to move.

The dog sneaked forward now, his teeth shining with bloodthurst. When he was close enough, he lurged forward with his sharp teeth ready to sink into the flesh of the young child. The boy felt his breath got caught in his throat, and closed his eyes out of fright.

Just when the boy thought he was done for a strong hand grabbed him by the back of his coat and janked him upwards. A maganical 'click' was heard followed by a deafening bang, and as the boy opened his eyes the puppy was gone.

With his mouth agape the boy stared at the spot where he had just seen the puppy, but now only smoke was seen. When he looked down he noticed he was hanging at least a couple of feet high in the air. He blinked as he glanced over his shoulder, looking up at a white haired man. A man who apparently saved him.

"Hi there punk." Dante said, placing the boy back on the ground. "Didn't your parents tell you not to pet unkown dogs?"

The boy could merely blink, staring up at the tall man before him with his mouth still open.

Dante chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair with his gloved hand. "Be a big boy and run home now, alright? And don't go into the woods." He pointed a warning finger towards the boy who nodded, still astounded.

Dante smiled as he watched the boy run off in a big hurry. The kid apparently wanted to get home as soon as possible after these events.

He'd probably be scared of dogs for the rest of his life.

And of white haired men with red trench coats…

Dante placed his gun back in it´s holster and turned towards the woods of the park, narrowing his eyes at the shadowy trees. A worried feeling overcame him, a feeling he could not place. There was something bigger going on then just the attacks of possessed house pets, and he knew that Maia had something to do with it. Or that she at least had some kind of explanation. He was just not able to connect the threads together…yet.

* * *

**_R and R_**


	4. Chapter 4

**-Chapter 4- ** Piercing red eyes looked straight into the barrel of a gun. A gunshot resounded off the walls in a dirty alleyway and the body of an unnatural large dog fell to the ground, a hole in it's head, blood forming a large puddle underneath it's body.

Dante placed his pistol back in it's holster and watched with a victorious smirk at the lifeless body that soon turned into dust. The devil hunter turned his back swiftly while the dust was blown away by gusts of wind. His long red coat trailed on behind him as he made his way back to headquarters.

It had been a busy day, and so far he had gotten rid of at least thirty possessed pets. What troubled him though was the amount. It seemed like possessed pets were popping up from under every rock he tilted. As if by killing one, two would take it's place.

He was pretty sure someone was ´making´ these creatures. Besides that… it also bothered him that those possessed pets hadn't always been demonic.

Dante let out a long sigh and looked up at the night sky. It was a bright night and all the stars were out again. His eyes trailed over the Zodiac signs he didn´t know and stopped at the sight of the moon.

It was full…

As if on cue, a wolf like cry sounded from somewhere in the distance

Dante narrowed his eyes. Perhaps it was that demon Maia had been talking about.

Nergal…

Dante chuckled at that name and shook his head. "_Some name…sounds like the sound a cat makes when it throws up._" he thought and laughed slightly. Too bad no one was around to hear his witty joke.

With his hands in the pockets of his trench coat he walked home at a steady pace.

With one hand he pushed open one of the heavy doors and entered the building, the phone on his desk was already waiting for him to pick up the horn. "Time to order some pizza." Dante said out loud and began to make his way towards the desk, but stopped in mid-step half the way. His eyes narrowed into slits as he perked his ears, suspiciously listening to every sound coming from outside.

The ventilator on the ceiling was turning slowly. The flickering lamppost outside A few lonely cars in the background of the city A cat somewhere in an alleyway.

Other then that, it was dead quiet.

Yet the half demon remained where he stood, his head slowly moving towards the door, which he had left open upon entering. A shifty sound was heard near the entrance.

Dante turned around sharp; already had his gun pulled out and was pointing the barrel at a white blonde covered head.

She had made the sound on purpose, probably.

A smile appeared on Maia's face. "Jumpy, aren't you?" she said, remaining in the doorstep.

Dante frowned and slowly lowered his gun. "Well well…" he started, a grin forming on his lips. "look who couldn't stay away from me." He put the gun back in it's holster and after taking a quick glance at Maia he walked over to the phone to press the speed dial for the pizza service.

Maia entered the building and softly closed the door behind her. Her long white blond hair waved as the last breeze was cut off when the door fell in it's lock.

Dante watched her while he ordered his regular pizza, eyes trailing over the simple light blue dress she was wearing. It was a bit too big for her small figure but, although Dante preferred the last outfit she wore (which was nothing), it kind of suited her. Then again, she could probably wear a garbage bag and still look absolutely beautiful. "Where'd you get the dress?"

Maia swirled around gracefully and smiled again.

Dante's heart skipped a beat.

She shrugged and walked, no…more like danced her way over to an armchair in the 'living' area. "I borrowed it." she said, and gave him a wink. "Why? Do you like it?"

She was lying, she didn't borrow anything. She probably stole the dress from a washing line somewhere, how about that. He smirked. "You probably already know the answer." The little mind reader... A flirting, stealing lying mindreading unicorn, yeah right.

She giggled, folding her hands behind her back as she tiptoed through his office.

Curiously, she looked at the phone he had just used. "What did you just do?" she asked in interest.

"I called for pizza."

She blinked and stared off into the distance. "Pi…tsa…" she repeated and frowned. "What is that?"

Light blue eyes turned big as his mouth was almost hanging open in surprise. "Are you kidding me?!" he exclaimed.

She just blinked again.

"Pizza…" he said again, pronouncing it the right way," is THE heaven on earth. Next to a strawberry Sundea of course." He held up his hands and smirked.

Maia smiled back, but not really knowing what for. "I see…"

"Is that all?" he said and stared at her in theatrical disbelief and moved in closer, forcing Maia back until she sat down on the first thing that came in contact with her hind legs. "I can not believe an ancient creature such as yourself has never tasted a delicious Italian pizza." The man knelt down before her and covered his face with his hands in horror.

It was silent for a while, but then Maia giggled, the sound of little bells tinkling in his ears, and padded him lightly on the head. "There there, it's alright."

Dante, inwardly surprised by her touch, removed his hands and looked at where she sat on the armrest of a chair. "A bit melodramatic perhaps?" he asked her with raised eyebrows.

She pursed her lips in thought, then smiled. "Just a little. You should perform. Shakespeare is nothing compared to you."

Dante chuckled. "And you would know…?"

"Yes I would. I have met Shakespeare. Nice fellow, but very exhausting at times."

"Really?" Dante said astonished at the fact that she had met world's famous writer. It made him wonder how old she was…

She nodded. "This one time I fell asleep in his lap as he was reciting yet another poem." She looked up at the ceiling and chuckled. "He was way too poetic for his own good."

She had fallen asleep in his lap? Dante felt somewhat jealous. "You know," he started, getting up from the floor and smirking. "You're welcome to fall asleep in my lap if you want." He gave her a wink. "And I won't recite a poem, I promise." He crossed his heart and grinned boldly at her.

She looked at him playfully. "Does that line ever work?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Not yet, that was my first go."

"Nice try."

"Thanks. So you're gonna crash here tonight again, huh?"

"Probably." She half smiled again.

Well how about that. Maybe he should turn his shop into a B&B. On the other hand, it saved him the trouble searching for the female. He still had to question her about the escalating situation in the city. "Alright then."

Her smile grew warm and she looked down at the floor in silence. She still looked very tired; light blue lines were visible underneath her eyes. If you looked close enough, passed her beauty, you would notice the broken soul hidden within.

There was a knock on the door that interrupted the man's train of thought. Dante walked towards the door and opened it, knowing that his pizza would be on the other side. "Thanks for the pizza." he said taking it from the teen courier in a swift move.

"Eh, yeah sure." the boy said, taken a bit off guard.

Maia came to stand beside the devil and looked at the box with curiosity. "So that's a pizza, hm? A carton box with a scent…"

"No, it's what's inside the box that makes it matter." Dante explained and eyed the courier who seemed to be a bit distracted by the female. "So, what do I owe ya…?"

The teen didn't seem to respond as he just kept on staring at Maia's face.

"Yo, dude? How much?" Dante asked again, looking at the kid expectantly.

"I…well…it's eh…" the boy stammered, his eyes not leaving Maia's features.

Her eyes shifted to meet his with an encouraging look. "How much for the pizza in a box, Jake?" her voice sounded sweet and soothing.

"It´s free of charge." Jake quickly said, bowing his head as he did so.

Dante raised his eyebrows. "Free you say?" This was new.

Jake nodded and grinned nervously at Maia. "Yes, free. All free."

"Well thanks kid. Have a nice night." And with that he shut the door before Jake could even think about taking a step forward. Dante turned to Maia, his eyes eying her up and down. "You babe…are a goldmine."

* * *

_**R and R**_


	5. Chapter 5

**-Chapter 5-**

"So…" Trish said, crossing her arms as she sat down on the edge of Dante's desk. "I hear you've got a new friend, hm?" Dante, watching some program on the television, shrugged. "If that's what they say…" he responded, keeping his face emotionless.

Trish eyed him and pursed her lips. "What's her name?"

"Why do you ask?"

She smiled and placed her hands next to each of her sides, closing her fingers around the rim of the desktop. "Just curious…A unicorn doesn't get turned into a human everyday, you know."

Dante removed his eyes from the screen and looked at her, his head slightly to the side. "Did you have a chat with Patty?"

Trish smirked and held up her hands. "She'll do anything for candy." she simply stated. Dante stared ahead. "Yeah…I really ought to talk to her caretakers about that…" he said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"So…" the blond haired woman started, cocking an eyebrow and smiling seductively. "What's her name?"

Dante looked at her and smirked, leaning back in his chair. "Her name is Maia. And yes…she is a unicorn. Some story huh?"

"You can say that again." Trish chuckled. "Who would've thought…fairytales are actually real? On my way down here, I could've sworn I saw Rumpelstilsken running down the street." Dante laughed slightly. "And how would you know about Rumpelstilsken?"

Trish held up her hands and shrugged. "Hey, I read books." She smiled before giving him a serious look. "But really...a unicorn?"

The devilhunter crossed his arms over his chest. "That's what she says..."

"And what do you think?" Trish wondered out loud.

"I think..." Dante started, thoughtfully. "...I think that there is more to this."

"Like...?" she said, encouraging him to continue.

"Like she made up the entire story and is in fact a big, gorgeous, liar." It grew silent between the two. Trish looked at him, her face serious. "How are things going with the possessed pets?"

Dante groaned and stretched his arms above his head. "Did you not notice all the 'missing pet' posters hanging on every wall of the city?" She nodded and narrowed her eyes a bit. "That's why I asked. Things are escalating a bit, aren't they…" "Yeah well, let's put it this way…By the way things are going, there won't be any pets left in this city."

"That can't be good."

Dante agreed with her. They had to get to the core of the problem, and they had to get there fast. But the only lead they had wasn't available during day.

Just then the doors to Dante's office opened and the little devil herself walked in. "Good…" she started, but as she laid eyes on Trish she paused. "Evening…" Dante grinned at her. "Well well, right in time for pizza." Maia didn't respond and closed the door softly; the dress she had 'borrowed' swayed slightly before the wind was cut off by the door. "Trish Maia, Maia Trish." Dante introduced the two ladies, making gestures towards them.

Trish smirked and got up from the desk, her arms hanging by her sides as she faced Maia. "Pleasure."

Maia just looked at her, unblinking, unmoving. She could sense and smell that Trish was not human.

Trish raised her eyebrows and looked back at Dante. "Did you not teach her any manners, Dante?" Dante shook his head. "She's not fond of demons, Trish. Can you blame her?" "And yet she's staying here with you." the blonde noted cleverly, holding up her hands.

The man shrugged and got up from his chair, turning off the tv in the progress. "Apparently so." He grabbed his guns and sword and placed them in their holsters and on his back. "I thought you were having pizza?" Trish asked as she watched him pack his 'accessories'.

"Yeah well…" the white haired devil started, putting on his fingerless gloves. "I have a much better idea."

"Which is?" Dante grinned at her. "Why don't we go out for dinner?"

Trish crossed her arms and grinned back. "What a wonderful idea." She eyed Maia, who hadn't moved an inch. "Want to tag along?"

Maia stared at her with big deer like eyes, then she tilted her head. "Where to?"

"Ah, she can talk." Trish confirmed. Dante passed her, making his way towards the door and where Maia stood. "The park. We're going to look up an old friend of yours."

Maia's eyes widened and she looked at Dante in fright. "Nergal? You want to look for Nergal? I'm not going." she started to back away, the diamond on her forehead began to shine dangerously, but nothing happened.

Dante stopped her by grabbing her wrist, surprised that she hadn't pulled away before he could. Her skin felt cool against his palm; not quite the body temperature for a human. "Yes you are. You've got to face your demons sooner or later."

"Well said." Trish said, coming in from behind. She rested her elbow on Dante's shoulder, holding a gun up in the air. "And you don't have to do it alone."

Maia frowned and looked at the ground in thought, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "I'm not…"

"Stop running away... . You're going." Dante stated firmly, ending the discussion. He opened the door with his free hand. Maia looked from one demon to the other, wondering how on earth she had gotten herself into this mess. But then again, Dante was right. She was acting like a coward, which was really out of her usual character.

She sighed and lowered her shoulders in defeat. "Alright then." her melodic voice said.

Dante nodded and made the first step into the early night.

With every step they got closer to the park, Maia could feel her heart rate go up. Never in her life had she been as scared as this. It made it hard for her to think straight. It made her want to run in a different direction, but then the terror would probably blind her and then Nergal would have her exactly where he'd want her to. It had happened before, the night she met Patty and Dante… Maia bit her lip, trying to suppress her fear. She hated being like this. When did she become this weak shivering helpless being? She didn't need an answer though, because somewhere she already knew.

"Look…" Dante said, making her eyes swift to where he was pointing to," Do you see this?" He pointed at a poster of a missing cat. Bob was its name, only two years old with brown and red fur, a tip of red on the end of his tail. Maia tilted her head and frowned. "Bob?" she asked, not understanding what he was getting at.

"Exactly." Dante said, looking back at the picture. "I found Bob today." Maia looked from the picture to Dante.

"Really…"

"He was about to attack an elderly couple at a parking lot. I had to kill Bob." he told her calmly with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What, why!?"

Dante narrowed an eye. "He was possessed." Maia looked at the white haired demon in shock.

Dante and Trish exchanged looks. It appeared that Maia had no idea what had been going on in the city, but that seemed almost impossible. The occurring events were really hard to ignore. "Maia, when you change back in the morning, where do you go?" Trish asked, positioning herself next to Dante.

"I…" Maia started, still taken aback," I go out of the city," she said, looking from one demon to the other, "but I stay close for when the night comes." Her eyes looked at the picture of Bob and travelled further down the wall, noticing all the other posters of lost pets. "Oh my god… All of them?" she whispered astonished, her dark brown eyes wide. "Why are they allowing him to do this…?"

Trish frowned and looked at Dante. "They?" The half demon had heard it too and was now looking at Maia for an explanation.

It never came.

The howling of dogs nearby interrupted them and made the two demons look up. At the end of the street, two large dogs with red eyes came sneaking their way. Their muzzles hanging open, saliva dripping to the ground and sharp white teeth were shining in the light of the moon.

"Ah, our first party guests have arrived." Dante checked his watch and snickered. "They're a bit early though."

Trish just shrugged. "Guess we'll just have to entertain them."

This made Dante smile. "I guess we do." He gestured for Maia to come and stand behind them, but she seemed too occupied with the posters on the wall. "Alright then, suit yourself." he said, before grabbing his guns and pointing them towards one of the dogs. "Let's get this party started."

At that the dogs snarled loudly and started to run the last few feet. As Dante fired the first round of bullets, they dodged with amazing speed. The bullets collided with the ground, leaving holes in the pavement. The dogs parted, Trish taking on one of them. The other jumped, taking a leap over Dante's head and Dante kept firing. The bullets seemed to do no damage though. The dog landed on all fours on the other side of the demon, now turning to face Maia whose eyes went from one of the posters to the dog. Dante was ready to fire off another round of bullets, but Maia held up her hand.

"No wait." she said firm.

The dog growled and lowered his head as he showed his teeth. Slowly he sneaked closer.

"Is this you?" Maia asked, in a soft and calm voice. Her fear seemed to have completely disappeared. She pointed at a picture of a dog with a completely different appearance. A non demonic appearance that is… The dog growled again.

"Step aside Maia." Dante said, grabbing hold of Rebellion.

Maia took a step forward. "It's alright." she told Dante, keeping her eyes locked on the flaring red eyes of the dog. "She's not going to harm anyone."

Dante frowned and looked at Maia as if she were crazy. "Did you hit your head? Fluffy over there looks mighty hungry, and I'm guessing you're on its menu."

Maia held up her hand just when Dante wanted to make a move. "Holly…" Maia sang soothingly. "Holly."

"You're creeping me out." Dante said, watching the display in a mix of curiosity and scepticism.

The dog still sneaked closer, but the growling had stopped. There was a hint of recognition in the eyes of the demonic dog.

Maia kneeled down, holding out her hands for the dog to sniff. "It's alright." her soothing voice cooed. "It's okay." The dog touched her fingertips with her nose, sniffling in her sent. "Hush…" Maia whispered and closed her eyes. The diamond on her forehead began to shine brightly. A yellowish light surrounded the dog completely. Dante had to cover his eyes.

When the light died, the demonic dog was gone and a furry black and white sheepdog had taken it's place. Maia had her arms wrapped securely around it while it whined softly. "It's alright Holly." Maia said, petting the dog soothingly.

"Eh, what just happened?" Dante asked, staring at the dog in disbelief.

Maia looked up at him. "I simply drove out the demon soul."

Trish, who had gotten rid of the other dog in her own way, came to stand beside Dante. "Hey, where did the other one go?" she asked, before looking down at the pup in Maia's arms. "You're looking at her."

Trish looked at Dante surprised. "You're saying…"

"Yep, that's the demon dog, right there." Dante placed Rebellion on his back and crossed his arms. "Don't ask me how she did it though."

Maia stood up from the ground, her eyes kept on Holly. "Poor soul." she said and sighed heavily, closing her eyes. "I can't believe this."

"So, what _did_ you do?" Trish asked curious as to how she got the dog to change back.

"I reversed it." Maia replied, not opening her eyes. Holly came to sit alongside her, as she wanted to keep close contact, nudging Maia with her wet nose. It made Maia lose her balance and tip over; her knees feeling weak and giving in.

"Woa." Dante caught her by the waist before she could tumble down to the ground. "Are you alright?"

When she didn't answer, Trish touched her bare shoulder to get her attention. Her skin felt cold against hers; as if she were touching marble. The female devil frowned, but ignored it for now. "Maia…" she said."

"I'm fine." Maia said feeling exhausted. "I'm just a bit tired. It takes quite a lot of energy to exile a demon soul." She took in a deep breath and tried to stand on her own. The close contact with Dante unnerved her. Even though there was clothing between them, she could feel his energy warming her cold skin.

"Hm…" Trish looked at the woman thoughtfully. "So it's too much to ask to exile all the demons within these pets?" She pointed towards the posters on the wall.

Maia sought the support of the wall with one hand, waving off Dante's arms with the other. "No, but I can't do it while I'm like this." she said, gesturing to her human body.

Dante and Trish exchanged looks. "So now what? Do you want to continue to hunt down some demon pets?" Trish asked the half devil, resting the gun she had in her hand on her shoulder. Dante scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. If she's able to drive out those demons without actually killing the animals…then maybe we should leave it to Maia."

The unicorn had a distant look in her eyes as she stared at the sheepdog beside her. "This is all my fault." she whispered barely audible. "Damn it." She regained composure and pushed herself off of the brick wall, walking in the direction of the park with certain determination; Holly followed her.

"Wow there, where are you going?" Dante asked curiously.

"To the park." she replied.

Trish raised her eyebrows. "To do what?"

"To stop this madness right no…" her knees again gave in at that moment, making her crash onto ground.

Dante chuckled and crouched down next to her. "And how are you going to do that?"

Maia sucked in breath and rolled over so she could sit down. Her knees were scraped; a drip of deep red blood went down her shin. She felt extremely weak, as if there was no energy left in her body.

"I think it's time to head back." Trish said, staring at a deranged Maia.

"Good idea." Dante said, grabbing Maia by the arm and yanking her to her feet as he got up. Maia shook her head.

"No. I have to stop this first. It's my fault that this is happening. I lured that demon to this city." Her fear had been replaced by determinateness.

"Alright, suit yourself." Dante said, releasing her. "But when you get to the park and this Nergal catches you…Then who'll safe those innocent pets?"

Maia remained silent, staring ahead of her in realisation. Holly sniffed her legs and licked one of Maia's scraped knees. She sighed, closing her eyes in exhaustion. "You're right." she replied in a soft voice. "You're right Dante." She looked up, her dark brown eyes staring into his. "And yet I have no choice. It is my task to save them."

"Says who?"

"Says Ga…says I."

Dante narrowed his eyes. Something was telling him that there was more to this female than she was letting on.

"Let's head back." Trish placed her gun back in it's holster. "We'll leave this to you in the morning." She said to Maia, who nodded.

Dante groaned feeling slightly disappointed. They encountered only two demons this night, one was slain by Trish and the other was taken care of by Maia. This was probably the most boring night out he had ever experienced.

"Come on Dante, I'll treat you to a sundae." Trish said in a consoling voice.

Dante's ears perked up. "A strawberry sundae I might hope?" he asked with a smirk.

Trish held up her hands. "What else? A strawberry sundae it is. And we´ll take care of those knees of yours, Maia."

They walked towards the nearest ice-cream café, followed closely by Maia and Holly.

"What's a sundae?"

"Oh come on!"

* * *

_**R and R**_


	6. Chapter 6

**-Chapter 6-**

She could feel her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she ran forward, avoiding each and every passing tree with ease. The forest was become less thick; trees were getting thinner and younger. She was nearing the edge and the sun was beginning to set. It was time. She had to get back to the city before it was time.

* * *

A shadowy figure was standing on the ridge of a cliff, overlooking the city. He was wearing a cloak that made it impossible for anyone to recognize him. His piercing grey eyes stared down at the houses and other buildings almost in a disparaging manner. How he loathed those foul and unworthy creatures, it was impossible to put it in words. Not only because it was impossible to describe the hatred and disgust he felt in his heart, also because he could never speak it out loud, for he was supposed to be on 'their' side. He was supposed to love those creatures…those humans. The man shuddered and felt his hatred scorching his insides.

If only they knew…

His eyes narrowed into slits as he felt someone approaching him. Not turning around, not moving an inch, he said:" Speak." his voice sounded manly and held an unnatural echo.

Like the shadowy figure, the newcomer was dressed in a cloak as well, and his face was cast downwards as a token of respect. "He has not yet managed to capture her, Sir." the newcomer spoke in a pure feminine voice.

"I know that." the shadow spat, he felt his blood reaching boiling point.

The female quivered slightly, her eyes still cast on the ground. "He is asking for our help. He want us to…" "We've helped him enough already!" His booming voice was now raging through the sky like thunder. The clouds above gathered swiftly and darkened as the man's anger began to rise. The man closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down, for it was significant that no one knew he was there. After taking in a few breaths, he regained composure. "We already gave him permission to enter this world **and** gave him the location of her whereabouts. Now it was his decision to have her changed back into her former self. If he's having trouble capturing her, then that is because of **his own doing**." He spat out each and every word with venom and even though he wasn't facing her, the female felt the venom burning her skin.

"Yes Sir." came her silent reply and she backed away slowly, her head still lowered.

The moon came into view, it was almost first quarter. Time was running out. The man's eyes widened.

"Wait." he spoke, holding up his hand before she could depart. His eyes were narrowed as a plan formed in his head. None could see the devilish smirk forming on his lips. "Go to her."

The female raised her head slightly in shock.

"You have not seen her in a while, have you…Rhea." She frowned when she heard that name, her name…

The man, now turned around, looked down on her smaller form. "Go to her." he ordered.

Rhea bowed slightly, never once looking up at his shadowed face. "As you wish."

He smiled content and turned back to face a dark orange sky, as Rhea slowly made her departure. The dark clouds were becoming calm as the man's temper began to fade. Small openings were forming in the sky making it able for the orange beams of the setting sun to seep through, one beam hitting the man and covering him in warmth. The light made his cloak gleam, giving it a silvery color.

* * *

She had reached the city without pulling to much attention to her self. Now if she could only reach the park before the sun was down. She still had about thirty minutes on her mental clock, so that had to be enough. She galloped at a rapid pace through one alleyway after another without making any noise at all; it seemed as if her hooves were barely touching the ground.

She came to a stop at the last narrow street, her dark brown eyes looking over the road towards the safe trees of the park. Well…safe? That was probably open for discussion. But she had to reach it, if she wanted to help the poor souls whom were possessed by her pursuer.

Patiently she waited for an elderly couple to pass before she made a dash towards the park, jumping over a parked car with ease and disappearing between the trees and leaves. The woman stopped with a frown and turned around. Her husband, whom was holding her arm as they walked, looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What is wrong dearest?" The woman shrugged and turned back. "Nothing sweetheart, just felt a little gust of wind is all."

Maia blew out as sigh throughout her nose. She'd made it. Now for her to get to the center. Her horn began to glow a blinding bluish light as she walked, her destination clear in mind. All over the forest red eyes of possessed pets appeared, coming out of their hideouts and staring at the horn intently. The blue light was blinding yet hypnotizing. Impossible for the possessed to avert their eyes, they followed it. They followed Maia on her path to the center of the forest. .

There it was; the lake clearly marking the right spot. Maia's eyes shone relieved and she felt the presence of the disfigured creatures behind her. She came to an halt, her horn still shining. Her eyes scanned the surroundings and noticed with a mental smile that more creatures appeared out of bushes and, cracks and openings. She let out a breath of air as she closed her eyes. It was almost time now. Only ten more minutes before she would change back; she had to be quick. With the last animal approaching the lake she dimmed her horn, taking away the hypnotizing light that held control over the creatures. For a second…only one second, a complete calm overcame the forest as every singly creature whom had followed her came to a halt to recollect themselves.

For just one second, complete serenity ruled the woods.

And then the growling began. Maia waited.

She waited for them to crawl closer while she boiled up all of her energy before focusing. It was then she felt the presence of another being. None demonic, human and pure. Untouched by darkness. A female…Maia frowned mentally. That female had to get out of the forest, before Maia could safe the possessed. If her energy blast would hit a pure soul, it would do no harm, but it would knock it out. She focused, trying hard to send out a message without losing her grip on the energy building up.

"_Run."_ her voice whispered, guided away by the wind. "_Run now, or you'll be hit."_

She could almost smile in relief when she felt the human retreating, almost…for it could lose her concentration. Energy was building up more rapidly now, as creatures sneaked closer.

_Not yet…_

_Just a little closer… Not…yet…_

Her dark brown snapped open as one of the animals was about to sank it's teeth in the flesh of her leg. _Now! _She pushed all of her energy up, building it up in her horn and holding her head up to get a higher reach.

Not high enough. Maia reared, reaching the highest point for her possible. Then the light appeared again, not blue but yellow this time and it covered the entire center of the woods. Covering each and every tree, bush, hole and opening until there was no shadow left. Everything was covered in a bright and blinding blanket of light. The animals, possessed and disfigured, snarled and cried in protest as the light descended into their bodies, pulling and yanking at their insides, trying to take hold of the darkness inside of them and forcing it out.

It was painful, she knew, but it was also necessary. The light had finally reached it's full brightness and was now slowly beginning to fade. The sun had just disappeared behind the horizon, leaving the moon in charge of the night.

As the light faded, a figure of a woman came into view, lying on the ground in the dirt and surrounded by bodies of cats, dogs, birds, rabbits and all kinds of different animals and pets. Not dead, but unconscious by the effort of the fight against an almost overpowering darkness.

* * *

Lady stepped out of her rental car, which she had just parked across the street from a small grocery store. She had intended to get some groceries to fill her empty fridge, for she'd been out of town the past month for a job. Yet after seeing a unicorn leaping over the hood of her car, she decided to follow that instead. "_One month…_" she thought, shaking her head," _one month I've been gone…Sometimes I wonder what the hell Dante does all day_."

The creature disappeared into the shadow of the forest, but Lady didn't hesitate to enter. Even though she had lost track of the…unicorn…she still had a faint clue of where to go. Perhaps it was her remarkable sense of track, or the fact that a swarm of disfigured looking animals were all walking in the same direction as a couple of zombies…either way she knew.

Eventually they reached the center, Lady in the back with all the 'zombies' walking up front, passing her without even noticing her presence. Then Lady laid eyes on the unicorn again. Her semi-colored eyes widened at the sight. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"_Beautiful…for a demon_." she thought, grabbing for her gun. Then she stopped, for the bluish light had died and everything went dead silent. And eerie feeling crept up Lady's spine as her eyes lingered on the unicorn. Then she heard the growling and snarls coming from in front of her. The zombies started to sneak closer towards the unicorn, but the unicorn itself did nothing. Or so it seemed.

Lady narrowed her eyes and studied the events played out before her. Was it just her, or was the pearly white fur of the creature turning brighter. Just then, she felt it…The built up tension, the energy coming from the thing. It was waiting for the zombies to get closer. It was waiting for the right time. Waiting…to blow out an energy blast. "_Run."_ Lady's eyes widened as she heard the voice of a female whisper as a gust of wind blew past her gently. "_Run now, or you'll be hit."_

A look of shock was on Lady's face, realizing what the voice meant. She was standing just a few feet away from the events, she could be taken out too if the blow hit her. She made a quick decision and backed away quickly, running in a different direction. She would come back and see what had happened afterwards and to find out whose voice it was she had heard. But for now, she just had to get away as fast as possible.

* * *

**R and R**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7-**

As soon as the light had died, Lady had returned to the forest. It seemed as if the light was only concentrated on the very core of the park, as it hadn't reached the streets at all. With her guns readied, Lady made her way towards the lake again, curious of what she might find. Her eyes scanned the environment, but there was no damage whatsoever. All the trees, plants, everything was still intact. Not even a single twig seemed to be out of place.

Lady frowned, growing more and more curious by the minute, but also unsure of what the find.

Every step was made with caution as she slowly reached started to near the center of the forest. She stopped when she noticed a shadow on the ground. When she looked closer it appeared to be a body. Not that of a unicorn, but of a dog…a golden retriever if she was correct. She frowned and kneeled down, yet still on her guard. Placing one gun in its holster, she touched the fur of the animals stomach with her free hand. She waited until she felt it rise and lower, rise and lower. It was still breathing. The dog was alive. Lady looked up and let her eyes wander over the path. More animals like the retriever at her feet lay scattered all over the forest ground, unconscious, sleeping. Where had all the zombies gone?

Lady pursed her lips, stood up and started walking again. There was something really weird going on…and that unicorn probably had all the answers.

Yet when Lady reached the lake, there was no unicorn in sight. It was dark, but the unicorn had been fluorescent white. It should be visible even in the darkness of the night. Lady narrowed her eyes and reached for a pouch on her belt, taking out a small flashlight. Clicking it on, she let the small white light glide over the forest following it with the barrel of her gun. Dirt.

Cat.

Cat. Bird. Human foot.

Grass.

Tree.

Wait a minute.

Lady let the light go back and again the human foot came into view. "What in the world…" she mumbled with a surprised and shocked look on her face. She moved towards the body fast, realizing that when she came closer it was in fact a woman; a naked young woman with long white blonde hair.

"Hey miss!" Lady called, kneeling down next to the body and placing a free hand on the females arm; the flashlight had been tugged away in its pouch again. Lady frowned at the ice cold skin under her fingertips, shocked when she realised what it could mean. Was she dead? "Hey, wake up. Miss?" she tried again, combing away some of the satin locks which covered the woman's face. Her eyes were closed, but in between her eyes Lady noticed something shiny. Her eyes narrowed. "What is this…" she mumbled, her eyes narrowing as bend over so she could reach for the shiny rock embedded on the skin of the woman's forehead. Precisely in the middle…exactly on the spot where the… A rustle coming from behind interrupted Lady's train of thought.

What was that? Lady stood up, her gun ready again. Perhaps some of the animals were waking up…

Again a rustle.

Lady turned around, her eyes were beginning to get quite accustomed at the darkness; they were focused on a bush only a few feet away. A short growl was heard. Lady tilted her head slightly. "Step…away." a hoarse voice said.

The gun moved from the bush to a nearby opening in the woods. Two shining red eyes flared up at human eye level. "Step away from her. Now."

Lady chuckled, an eyebrow raised. "Says who?" she replied, waiting for the demon to show himself.

"Says I." the eyes shone dangerously and a dark figure came stepping into few. Lady took in his appearance quickly. It was in human form, a head taller then her. His face looked old and worn out, eyes lay deep in their sockets and he had dark circles as if he's been having a bad night for weeks. His hair was black with streaks of grey and he was wearing a ridged looking mantel.

"Hm…I don't take orders from demons." Lady replied keeping her face serious.

The demon growled again and took a step closer. "Then you will die." At that the demon jumped forward out of its human form, changing into what looked like a werewolf.

Lady had already fired her gun, but it didn't scare the wolf as stormed towards her with devastating speed. Lady sucked in breath as she ducked out of the way, the wolf's claws missing her by an inch. She rolled over on her knees and fired again at the wolf, aiming for its torso, her thoughts with the mysterious woman behind her who at the moment she was protecting.

But for what, and from whom?

Who was she?

The wolf roared as the bullets sank in its flesh, blood leaked from the holes but they closed seconds later. "Damn." Lady whispered as she noticed this, biting her lip and whishing she had brought Kalina-Ann. Yet that was still lying in the trunk of her car. She groaned inwardly as the wolf charged her again and jumped out of the way, but not before the demon managed to rip a piece off of her white leather jacket. For a second Lady looked down at the ripped leather and noticed something that caught her attention, but right now she was to busy fighting off the demon. Her gun already pointed at the wolf´s head, she pulled the trigger, forcing a round of bullets into the demons brain. It snarled and shook it´s head, then turned and looked at her in anger.

Just before Lady wanted to shoot again she stopped as the demon slowly started to grow. She tilted her head and watched the wolf growing and growing inch by inch. What was he doing? She grabbed for her other gun and took a few steps aside, to stand closer to the unconscious female laying on the floor. She heard the bones crack and bend as the figure changed. The wolf started to stand up on two legs, its front paws growing bigger and more lethal. Its sharp teeth were becoming to big for its mouth and started sticking out in several direction.

"Hm…" Lady raised an eyebrow and looked back over her shoulder towards the unconscious girl. "I hope you have an all risk insurance, 'cause this is going to cost you."

"She doesn't." a male voice said, coming up from behind her. It took less then a second for Lady to point her gun at the newcomer's forehead as soon as she heard him speak.

"Dante…You should know better then to sneak up on people who are on their guard."

Dante smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "What's the worst that could happen? A bullet through the head? Been there babe."

Lady smirked, then nodded towards the naked female. "You know that girl over there?"

"Just a little. Now what do we have here?" Dante said as he looked at the growing werewolf in front of them. "Nice." he stated with a grin, nodding approvingly.

"You can't hurt him with guns. He regenerates."

"Hm…does he now." Dante rubbed his chin, grin still in place. "Guess I'll have to take him down another way." Dante reached for his sword and pointed the tip of it towards the now fully grown wolf. "Fluffy, sit!" Dante commanded.

Nothing happened.

"…Lay down!…heel?!…Nothing?" The wolf just stared and growled. "We really need to get him into one of those puppy courses." he said to Lady, who just shook her head and sighed.

"This is not the time for jokes, Dante." she said, slightly irritated.

"Oh alright, let's just…Whoa!" The wolf had charged, slower then before now that it had grown, but still pretty damn fast. Dante jumped out of the way, pulling Lady along with him. "Hey now that's not very nice, interrupting someone's conversation." Dante scolded, waving his sword at the wolf.

The dog growled, a deep voice boomed through the forest. "You idiot. You don't even know who you are protecting."

Dante raised his eyebrows. "Sure I do. She's lying right over there."

The demon laughed, although it sounded more like a bark. "She," he spat," is not who she says she is. She's lying to you 'devil hunter'."

"Oh really?" Dante asked, and shrugged. "So what, it doesn't really matter for you. I'll take you down anyway."

A snarl was heard and the wolf lowered on all fours, eying Dante with his red eyes dangerously. "You will fail. She was promised to me. She's mine."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, big guy. And frankly, I don't even care." Dante said. Gripping his sword tightly, he grinned. "Let's do this." he said and darted forward, slashing his sword at the front paws of his enemy.

Metal clashed together with granite hard claws, sparks flying everywhere. Dante grinned. "Pretty sharp, for a puppy." He ducked away when a paw flew towards him and jumped and sliced one of its toes off, claw and all. The wolf howled in pain and ducked forward with its muzzle, sharp teeth dripping with the anticipation to taste some fresh meat. The devil hunter rolled out of the way and as he got on his knees, he jumped on the wolf's head as it moved up. The demon turned, his eyes looking confused as he had lost sight of Dante.

"Hey, looking for me?" the devil hunter asked, as he bended over to look the wolf in one of his eyes from upside down. The wolf snarled and tried to grab him with his oversized paws, but missed and hit his eye instead. "Ghe, stupid dog." Dante muttered, slicing off another one of its toes.

It growled and started to shake its head rapidly in an attempt to throw the devil hunter off.

Dante grabbed hold of one of the wolf's ears and grinned manically. "Whoohoo! Oh yeah!"

Lady watched from the ground at the fight, wondering if she should help Dante take the wolf down. She decided against it, figuring Dante could hold its own. Lady remembered then her ripped leather jacket. Looking down, she touched the fabric where it had been slashed by the claws of the demon. The fabric was burned around the edges. It had actually burn quite a bit of a hole in the leather. "Ah, damn it." she cursed and sighed as she remembered how much money she had spend on the piece of clothing. Perhaps she shouldn't buy expensive outfits with the line of work she was in.

But the burnings were quite remarkable. What did it mean…? Lady looked up at the fight again, then noticed one of the claws lying on the floor. Dante had cut two of em off earlier. Lady walked over and knelt down, examining it with narrowed eyes. The tip of the nail appeared to have a black dot on it. Lady pursed her lips and looked down at her ragged jacked. Taking out a knife she had hit in her boot, she cut off a piece of leather and placed it on the ground. With her free hand she picked up the nail, a disgusted look on her face. Carefully not to cut herself she stabbed the nail through the piece of leather and watched what happened. Around the hole it had made, the leather started to burn away. Not as if it was on fire, but like someone had poured some kind of chemical fluid over it. "What in the…" Lady started, as she watched the entire piece burn away in front of her eyes. She looked up at Dante who looked like he was having a good time taunting the demon. Lady shook her head at his ignorance. "Dante!" Lady yelled. "Watch out for his claws! I think they might be poisoned."

Dante jumped over an incoming paw and slightly turned. "You don't say…" he said with raised eyebrows, a set of claws missing him by just an inch. "Just be careful!"

She turned towards the female and knelt down beside her body. Carefully she touched the porcelain skin again, testing the temperature.

Still cold, was she even breathing?

She placed her fingers in front of the woman's nose, after a few seconds she felt the hot air of breath hitting her fingertips.

"Still alive." Lady confirmed with a sigh of relief. She took of her jacket, revealing a black tank top, and placed it over the woman's shoulders and torso. It didn't cover up much, but it was better then nothing.

"Down boy!" Dante yelled when the wolf tried to whip Dante with its tail. Dante had just easily jumped over it. Actually, the demon was kind of starting to bore him. The half devil jumped over the tail again and charged, walking over the wolf's tail, trailing his sword behind him cutting the wolf's back open as he ran up. The demon roared out in pain, his eyes crossed when Dante reached the tip of its nose, looking straight into the barrel of the demon hunter's gun. "Bad dog." Dante said and pulled the trigger, filling the head of the demon with bullets.

The demon howled, his eyes turning pitch black and fading. Dante frowned as he suddenly felt the nose on which he was standing becoming somewhat soft and cloudy. He looked down just as the wolf had turned in a huge cloud of black smoke, completely disappearing into the night.

Dante managed to land on his feet. Standing up he watched the smoke vanish.

"What just happened?" Lady asked from just a few feet away.

Dante shrugged, a confused look on his face. "I have no idea…" His eyes went from the smoke, to the unconscious Maia. The conversation with the wolf had not left his mind. He had a lot of questions and he had a hunch that Maia was the only one who could answer them.

Lady took the female's wrist to check her pulse. "Do you think she'll make it?" she asked Dante, concerned about the girls tempature.

Dante shrugged and leaned over. "I don't think she can actually die…You see she's a…"

"Watch out!" Maia suddenly yelled, her eyes had shot wide open and she clearly directed towards something behind Dante and Lady. Dante spun around and jumped aside just to see a huge cloud of black dust in the form of a huge open mouth soaring through the air. It snapped close on the spot where Dante had stood and dissolved into thin air afterwards.

"Holy fuck…" Dante swore and laughed, scratching the back of his head with a hand. Maia let her head fell back to the ground and sighed in relieve.

"Never turn your back on him…Never." she whispered. Slowly she sat up. Lady´s jacket fell down, but her long hair falling on her back and covering her breasts; leafs and twigs falling…or more like gliding right of the locks of hair.

"You should not have come here." she spoke, eyes on the ground.

"Babe, I never skip a party." Dante said, grinning. Maia looked up, brown eyes locking with silvery blue ones.

"I didn't mean you, Dante." Her eyes moved to Lady. "It seems like I'm dragging more and more souls into this mess. I'm sorry, Mary."

Lady raised her eyebrows and gave Dante a quick glance.

Dante shrugged. "Mind reader." he explained.

"Ah, well that's nice." Lady commented sarcastically. "And thanks for your concern, but I can handle a little danger. Besides, I think that whoever was chasing you is gone now."

"You're wrong. He's not gone."

Dante frowned. "What are you talking about? Nergal is gone."

"No he's not." Maia said her voice fierce. "That wasn't Nergal. It was just a piece of him."

"A piece?" Lady asked. "Yes…a piece of his soul." Maia grimaced and let her head fall in her hands in a groan.

The diamond on her forehead shimmered a little. "It's been so long…" she mumbled and chuckled, "since I've had a headache."

"Really, Unicorns get headaches?"

Maia groaned.

* * *

Lady had positioned herself on Dante's couch, when Dante returned from his bedroom where had placed Maia on the bed. She had slipped into unconsciousness again on the way back and it looked like she would be out for a while.

Lady looked at him, her eyes asking all sorts of unanswered questions. "A unicorn?" she asked skeptically, still processing the information Dante had given her in the car on their way over. "Yep." Dante confirmed, walking over to one of the chairs and plopping down with a groan. "But there's probably something more behind all of this."

Lady nodded, staring ahead. "Probably." She had also heard the demon's words. "What did you say here name was again?"

"Maia." Dante said. "And the demon?"

"Nergal."

"Right…" she said, deep in thought. "I'll hit the books, see if there's anything I can find about her or that demon." "Good luck." Dante said, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back as he closed his eyes. "Tell me if something comes up."

Lady shook her head and stood up from the couch. "And to think I'm probably not even going to get paid for this." "Probably." Dante smirked. Lady squinted her eyes at him, a smile appearing on her lips. "Guess I'll just have to direct the bill to you, seeing as how she's staying here anyway."

Dante shot up straight. "What!? I don't have any money!" Lady just shrugged, smiled and left.

"Fuck."

* * *

**R and R**


	8. Chapter 8

**- Chapter 8 -**

The sound of a vacuum cleaner woke Dante up the following morning. Groggily he sat up from the chair he was slouched in and scanned the room for the rude intruder.

He found a little girl with curly blonde hair. Still tired, he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Patty, what the hell are you doing?" He yawned and stretched his arms above his head.

Patty turned around, her face looked slightly irritated. "I'm cleaning up this mess, of course! If you're not going to do it, then who is? Besides, you still owe me two icecreams and you don't have any money. You can't expect to get any costumers when you live in a dump like this! Sometimes I wonder why I even bother…"

Dante zoned out at that part and stood up to walk towards his desk. With another yawn he looked out the window. Sunshine shone through the freshly cleaned glass and… Sunshine…!?

"Shit!" Dante cursed and bolted up the stairs, towards his bedroom.

Patty just stood there watching him panic, a confused look on her face. "What's gotten into him?" she wondered.

Careful not to make a sound, Dante made his way through the dark hallway towards his bedroom door. Slowly he opened it and peeked around the corner. The curtains were closed and the room was completely dark. Dante squinted his eyes at the darkness, his light orbs looking at the bed. Maia lay on it, asleep. Her figure still in human form; white blonde hair spread out like a fan behind her.

Dante exhaled, relieved. For a minute there he thought he would find an oversized pony in his bed. That would have been a pain. Dante leaned against the doorpost and crossed his arms. "So she only changes 'in' the sunlight…That's convenient."

The door to the shop opened.

Patty turned around, surprised and hopeful for it to be a costumer. On the doorstep stood a figure dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt with a hood, which the person was wearing. Therefore his face was covered in a shadow, making it impossible to tell if it was a male or female.

"Good morning!" Patty said cheerfully. She placed the vacuum cleaner against the wall and walked towards the visitor. "Are you a costumer? Would you like a cup of tea?"

The hooded figure looked down at Patty, a somewhat content sigh escaping its lips. Slowly it removed the hood, revealing short locks of very light strawberry blonde hair framing the face and covering up the person's forehead and one eye.

"That would be nice, thank you…" the visitor said in a melodic feminine voice.

Patty just stared at her in awe. She could not tear away her eyes from the person's flawless face. She had completely forgotten that she had promised the visitor a cup of tea.

The female smiled warmly at Patty and titled her head. "Is Dante in?"

Patty, still staring, nodded slowly.

Just then heavy footsteps were heard on the staircase. The female turned her head, just to see Dante coming down.

She narrowed her deep bleu eyes slightly at the sight of the half demon, a jolt going through her body. Dante at first stared just like Patty, at the female, but not all for the same reason. There was just something familiar about her.

"Do you have the password?" Dante asked while he walked towards his desk. He plopped down in his chair, kicking up his feet and resting them on the desktop.

"I'm not here to hire you, Dante." she said with a smile.

Dante frowned, the sound of her voice tickled his ears. "Then why are you still here? Leave so I can take my nap."

"But you just woke up!" Patty remarked, earning a glare from Dante.

The female closed the door and walked towards his desk. "I was just wondering if you could help me find a lost person."

Dante sighed. "No password, no help. Sorry miss."

"I can give you the password if you want. But I do not wish to hire you for a job you already finished."

Dante removed his feet from the desk and sat up straight. "What are you talking about?" he asked, growing curious.

The female leaned over, placing her hands on his desk. Her eyes were locked on his. "You already found her."

"Found who?" he asked, not taken aback by the fierceness in her eyes, nor the beauty of her face.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "My sister."

The half devil leaned back in his chair and looked at her sceptically. "I see…And who are you?"

The female stood back up, taking a step back. "My name is Rhea. My sister's name is Maia. And I heard that she's staying here with you."

It came as a surprise or rather shock to Dante that Maia actually had a sister. But could this Rhea be trusted? And was she really who she said she was…Was Maia…?

"_She is not who she says she is. She's lying to you 'devil hunter'."_

Nergal's words echoed trough his mind.

"Oh yeah? Who gave you the information that she´s staying here?" Dante's face remained blank, showing no surprise on his face whatsoever. And to think he never wins a game of poker.

Rhea shrugged. "I don't know his name." It was a lie, Dante knew. 'Lying' must run in the family.

"So…is she here?" Rhea asked, looking at the devil hunter from aside.

Patty, who was listening to the story from the other side of the room, came to stand a bit closer. "Are you…a unicorn too?"

That was a question that caught Dante's attention. If this Rhea really was Maia's sister, then why was she 'human'.

Rhea turned around, looking at Patty with loving eyes. "No I am not. And neither is Maia."

After hearing that, Dante sat up straight and leaned over his desk, elbows on the top. "She's not?"

"No." Rhea confirmed and smiled.

Patty was confused. "But if she's not…then…what…?"

Rhea ignored her and placed her delicate hands on Dante's desk, leaning a bit forward. "So you do know her then?"

"I thought I did."

Rhea narrowed her deep blue eyes at him. "Do you know where she is?"

The devil hunter stared ahead in thought for a while, then locked his eyes with the female. "Maybe...what is it to you?"

The female tilted her head, carefully assessing her words. "My sister broke the rules. She's on probation, but she ran away. I am here to take her back."

"Probation hm? For what?" He could sense Rhea was at discomfort.

"A private matter. It doesn't concern you. Do you know where she is or don't you?"

Dante narrowed his eyes, never breaking eye contact. "No I don't." He could tell lies too, plus this was probably as much information he could get out of her. Still there was one more thing he was curious about… "But if I do see her, I will let you know." He stood up, and extended his hand.

Rhea's eyes looked at him fiercely for a while, before she decided that this was a battle she could not win. It would be better catching Maia when she was alone anyway. She stood up as well, looking down at his hand before grabbing it with her own for a handsake. Her skin felt at normal temperature. Patty frowned. She had never seen Dante shake hands with a costumer before, why now?

"Alright then." Rhea said, letting go and turning her back towards him. A quick glance was thrown towards the stairs. Rhea slowly reached for her hood and pulled it over her light strawberry blonde hair, concealing her features. She opened the door and stepped into the sunlight. "Thank you for your assistance." Rhea said as she shot a look over her shoulder before closing the door.

Patty stared at the closed door, still in awe. "Who was that?" she mumbled.

Dante shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "I have no idea." _But she's probably up to no good…_he added in his mind. His eyes went up to the staircase, his thoughts with the sleeping Maia. He really wanted some answers from that woman. Wasn't Lady going to the library or something? Dante sighed out of frustration and glared at the phone. Usually Lady called him with the info, or she just randomly paid him visits. But now he was the one contemplating whether or not he should call her. "Damn those woman…" Dante mumbled. "but…what can you do?" He smirked and picked up the phone, dialing a number on speed dial. "Yeah hello, this is Dante. I'd like a pizza with all the good stuff on it."

Patty just shook her head and pressed the power button on the vacuum cleaner.

* * *

Later in the afternoon the phone did rang, and it happened to be Lady. "What took you so long babe, I've been waiting around all day for this call!" Dante exclaimed.

"I have been stuck in a dusty old library all night and day and you're the one complaining to me?! She's you're guest Dante! You know, I could just hang up the phone and not give you any information at all!"

Yikes…Dante scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah yeah, I know. I just had an interesting morning, that's all. Did you find anything?"

"As a matter of fact, I did…" she said.

Dante perked his ears. "Tell me all about it."

"Alright…It was pretty difficult to find, because for a fact…there is no documentation about this. Everything I have read were all lose stories, speculations about the existence of these..begins. There are even hieroglyphs found that suggested this. But it's all just stories really, like…a fairytale."

Dante yawned. "Get to the point."

Lady let out a snort. "Okay then…The stories suggests the existence of this group…or more like a family. It doesn't say if they're blood relatives or not. Anyway, this family is huge, covering the entire world. They live between us, not with us, watching over us as. Observing and protecting."

"And this family consists out of unicorns?"

Lady smirked. "No, not at all. All the stories tell that they appear to be human. Only then, drop dead gorgeous and immortal."

"Ah, there we go." Dante mumbled. The faces of Maia and Rhea appeared in his mind. "Drop dead gorgeous alright." he sighed. "And what about Maia?"

"There are no names registered, but I did find something about a unicorn. You see, being this gorgeous creature comes with a price. You have to sacrifice your humanity to watch over others. It evens goes as far that they have to give up their human life to safe that of a mortal at some point. The stories were kind of vague about it…Anyway, when a member of the 'family' defies the rule or refuses to live up to their promises or something like that…they are punished. Now one story tells that of a sister. She befriends a mortal, and they fall in love. They want to be together, but they can't because it goes against the rules of her family. So she runs away with him."

Dante frowns. Hadn't Rhea said something about Maia being a runaway?

"Then the mortal falls ill." Lady continues, "and he dies...leaving her alone. Now this was in medieval times, when people believed in witchcraft and what not. So the villagers believe her to have poisoned the man. They capture her and burned her at the stake. She doesn't die though. Her family comes to take her to trail for her crime. Can you believe that…as if falling in love with someone is a crime…" He could hear Lady snort, before she continued again. "In trail she is sentenced to a lonely live on earth for all eternity, alone and as a creature that is seen as a pure, untamed, unreachable being, desired and hunted by humans, and demons even. One of a kind, alone for ever."

"Right…a unicorn. So that means…Maia's true form is human."

"Yep."

"That lying little bastard." Dante muttered under his breath. Then Nergal shot through his head. "And what about the demon that's after her?"

"Yeah…" Lady started in a hesitant voice. "About the demon…I couldn't really find much about him. He probably isn't that much of a deal if he isn't registered in any of these books."

Dante gave a slight nod. "You don't say…"

"You know…That demon might be just a pawn in something bigger…"

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Dante replied, staring off into space. "I had a visitor today, who claimed to be Maia's sister. I think she plays a big role in this."

* * *

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by darkness. The stillness in the unfamiliar bedroom she was in, was almost deafening. Where was she? What had happened?

Maia slowly sat up, immediately letting her head fall in her hands as she bended over. Headache; her brain was thrumming like mad. She squeezed her eyes shot and groaned. "Damn it." she hissed, rubbing her temples.

"Yeah, headaches can be a pain." she heard a familiar voice say.

She hadn't even noticed the door being opened. Not bothering to open her eyes, she sighed. "Thank you for the information."

Dante smirked. "Don't mention it." The demon stepped into the room, turning on the lights as he did so. The sudden flash of yellow made the woman groan again and she covered her already closed eyes with her hands.

"Thank you for that too." she muttered.

He laughed. "Sorry 'bout that babe." he said bitter. Maia noticed this. "You know, I'm starting to think you like sleeping in my bed. Maybe next time there's room for one more?"

Maia chuckled when she realized, after opening her eyes and scanning the environment, that she found herself indeed again in Dante's. Her eyes darted to Dante, whom was leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He glared back at her, letting her know that he had figured out a thing or two about her.

She dropped her hands in her lap and gave him an apologetic look. His blue eyes still glaring at her with accusation. She tilted her head and smiled softly. "So now you know."

"Why did you lie?" he shot back.

"I didn't."

"Yes you did."

She sighed again. "You don't understand…I really did not lie. I am a unicorn. I have been one for four hundred years now."

"But you weren't always a unicorn. It was your punishment, wasn't it?"

Her brown orbs stared unblinking into his eyes. How did he know that? Dante pushed himself off the wall and walked towards the window, his back now turned towards her.

"Encase you're wondering how I know this: I have my sources."

Maia chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, I suppose you do…" She shifted her weight and moved towards the edge of the bed, placing her feet on the ground she remained seated. "How much do you know?"

"Enough…I know you betrayed your family and that your were cursed to an eternal life on earth…as a unicorn.." Dante recited, as Lady had told him.

Maia smiled weakly and looked down. "That's right…quite a lonely existence you know."

"But…" Dante said, ignoring her words," you are not demonic…"

She shook her head. "No…there's more to the universe that meets the eye. A higher power, afterlife…."

"What, so now you're implying that there is a God?" Dante snorted, turning around and crossing his arms. "I don't do religions."

She looked at him, her head titled to a side. "Of course there is a 'God'. Humans only defy it as **one**, even giving It a name. There is no **one**…there simply Is. It exists, yet It doesn't. It is everything and It is nothing. It is life and death, and everything in between."

"Really?" Dante looked at her cynically. "And how did **you **come to exist?"

Maia looked up at the ceiling, her brow furrowed in thought. "That's…kind of complicated. You could say that I'm a guardian, a guide to souls. The best known term for me would probably be an…"

"Angel?" Dante finished for her, raising his eyebrows. "Are you kidding me?"

Maia shrugged and shook her head. "No, it's not a joke, sorry. But we're hardly the type of ´angels´ humans have in mind. Those angels don't exist."

"Then what 'type' do you mean exactly?"

"Ehm…" Maia started, staring ahead of her as she tried to find the right words to describe her own being. "We used to be human. But due to a certain experience or achievement, we became this, guides, caretakers for all souls. We are still somewhat mortal, but we had to sacrifice our humanity, aging…all memories of our past human life, so that we can fully commit to our task. No ties, no boundaries. We would even give up our own life for the sake of others."

"And that's where you went wrong."

Maia looked up at him in shock. He really did read into her story alright. "Yes…that's true." she whispered, her head lowering in shame. "I couldn't do it." She bit her lip, staring at the sheets on the bed.

"What happened?" Dante asked, curious.

Maia frowned, her hands forming fists. "That's just it...I don't remember everything." she said. She looked up, giving him a helpless look. "Up until two years ago, I thought I knew. According to my own memories, I had broken the rule of commitment, but..." she fell silent. Her eyebrows were furrowed together as she frantically sought her brain.

"But?" Dante urged.

"But two years ago, I started having these visions...of that day...and" she said, sighing. "I know now that the memories I had were false."

Dante frowned. "How is that possible?"

Maia smiled and shrugged. "Well, our elders are able to erase memories, so my guess is, someone must have erased or replaced my own memories with false ones. Someone is trying to cover up what had really happened that day..."

The devil hunter crossed his arms over his chest in thought. It was possible that she was lying, yet...she seemed sincere enough to be telling him the truth. "That makes sense...What about these visions you've been having?"

Maia squeezed her eyes shut as if to recall the visions, the dreams. "I keep seeing a mortal man. He lies in bed, coughing. He appears to be very ill. And then there is...fire, a woman at a stake. She's burning, but there is no fear in her eyes."

The story sounded very much like the one Lady had told over the phone. "The woman at the stake is you?"

Maia shook her head. "No, that's just it...it used to be me, but...it's not me. It's...someone else. And she died...in my vision, she died." Maia's voice cracked at the last part. She knew the woman at the stake.

"Where were you?" Dante asked.

"What?"

Dante leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "You said you have visions of your real memories...? If you see a woman at a stake in your memories, then you must have been there yourself as well. So...where were you?"

Maia looked at him, her face suddenly looked saddened. She averted her eyes to the ground. "I was there, in the crowd."

"You were there?" Dante was frowning. "You watched her burn?"

Maia nodded. "Yes. I know it sounds weird...I don't understand everything yet. But yes...I just stood there and watched her burn." her eyes narrowed as the scene replayed over in her head. "I remember that...I was supposed to...I was ordered to safe her...but I...I couldn't... I don't understand why, but I just couldn't..." she fell silent and closed her eyes, biting on her bottom lip. A silence grew between them, before she whispered. "I don't deserve to live..."

Dante frowned. He had the feeling she wasn't telling him everything, there was something more. Or perhaps all the gaps in her memory weren't filled up yet.

Maia remained silent, her hands folded together in her lap. Dante could sense her depression. He pushed himself off the wall and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You got to lighten up. It was four hundred years ago. I say leave the past behind." Dante said, taking the situation lightly. His carefree attitude filled the room. "I'm not sure if I can do that."

"Come on." He replied, grabbing her by the upper arm and pulling her up from the bed, earning a surprise yelp from her when she collided against his chest. "Then you'll always be moping around. Where's the fun in that?"

Maia chuckled and shook her head. Dante caught a strand of her hair flying by and let it slid between his fingers. Damn her hair was soft.

"That's just it, there is no fun. I'm not supposed to have fun. I failed. The mortal...and Ka...the woman, they died, and I'm still alive. I shouldn't be."

The devil hunter chewed on the inside of his lower lip. Man, this girl was depressing. "And yet you still run from that Nergal demon. If you want to die so badly, why not let him have you…"

Maia looked up at him, her eyes now such a dark colour of brown the pupil seemed to disappear. She stayed silent for a while, as if she was contemplating whether or not she should tell him. "Nergal." she eventually said, "isn't after my blood. He's after my soul."

* * *

"Did you find her?" he asked, his eyes the only part of his face visible. His figure stood in the shadows of a cave somewhere deep in a forest near the city.

Rhea, whom was crouched down in front of him her head bowed, nodded. "Excellent. Does she know?"

Rhea hesitated…She did find her sister, but she hadn't exactly spoken to her.

"Well?" the man's impatience grew.

She bit her lip, trying to find the right thing to say without pissing him off. "I…I don't know, Sir."

The man narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I didn't…talk to her…"

"What?!"

"She's with this devil hunter, Sir. I couldn't do anything."

The man stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the afternoon. His long grey hair was tied back in a low ponytail and his tall frame was masculine yet subtle. His face looked old and somewhat wise, but in a malicious way for his eyes always looked angry and thoughtful. Deep lines in his forehead revealed that the man had great worries.

"A devil hunter you say…So it is true then." he spoke as he paced around in front of her. "Yes, Nergal did not lie. A son of Sparda found our sister."

Rhea cringed at the sound of the word 'our'.

He stopped pacing, his index finger placed on his chin as if he were in thought. "Rhea, go inform the others. Tell them that we are going to recollect our sister."

Rhea looked up in confusion. "But Alexander…they are…"

"**Don't**!" his voice boomed, his frame towering over her as he pointed a demeaning finger at her form. "Don't call me that out loud, Rhea." he spat out her name as if she were some kind of insect.

Clouds gathered, making the sun disappear. Alexander looked up at the sky, slightly frightened and took a few steps back so that his figure was hidden in the shadow once again.

"Tell the others." he said, his voice now barely audible.

Rhea bowed her head, suppressing the urge to sigh. "As you wish."

* * *

_**R and R**_


	9. Chapter 9

**-Chapter 9-**

_She was running._

_Her long reddish blond hair waved behind her. Bare feet were covered in mud._

_On her long simple brown dress were splatters of mud and strikes of green._

_She could feel her lungs burn, her legs almost felt limb from running. She was so tired. But she had to keep going. They were going to kill him. They had only found out about a week ago and now he was dying. It couldn't be a coincidence. It wasn't supposed to happen like this._

_It just couldn't be… "Thomas." she whispered out his name as his house came into view. She could see a figure standing in front of the door. A hopeful smile crept upon her face but it crashed like glass when she recognized the person's features. She stopped then, dead in her tracks. Her eyes locked with the evil smirk on his face. "No…please," her voice broke. "No!"_

* * *

"No!" Maia yelled, shooting up from the bed she had been lying in. Bewildered, she looked around in the dark bedroom. She recognized it as Dante's. He left her there to get some more sleep since she had been pretty tired. Saving so many souls caused her to use up all the energy she had, even in unicorn form. She sighed and brushed her bangs out of her face. They were wet from sweat and as she looked down, she noticed that the blankets were actually wrapped around her bare legs from all the tossing and turning she had been doing. Also her cheeks were wet. Had she been crying?

Maia lowered her head in her hands, trying to recall the dream. It had felt so real. She had felt the emotions from the woman so lively, it was frightening. Who was the girl or woman? And who was this Thomas person?

Maia bit her lip and pushed herself backwards, so that her upper body fell back upon the mattress. The dream had felt to real for it to be just a dream…it had to mean something.

Maia turned her head and faced the window. Curtains had prevented the sunlight from pouring in, so that she would remain human. Dante was very clear about his 'no pet' policy. Maia chuckled at the memory of their little chat a few hours ago. He accused her from holding back on information. She should have told him she only changed 'in' direct sunlight.

At the moment, there was no light seeping through the material of the curtains. Maia checked the clock and noticed that it was already near midnight. She had slept for quite a while.

Pushing herself up from the bed, she walked over to the curtains and pulled one of them aside. She got a good view over the almost abandoned street. The sky was dark and greyish, no stars were seen and neither was the moon. Clouds were probably gathering and by the looks of it, it could start to rain soon. Maia grimaced and wanted to close the curtain, but then her attention got caught by something down the street. She frowned and narrowed her eyes, zooming in on something behind a group of garbage cans. Yet there was nothing there. Had she been seeing things? She could have sworn she saw a shadowy figure standing in the darkness of the narrow street. The image of Nergal appeared in her mind. Her brown orbs scanned the pavement below, but there was nothing. Slowly she closed the curtains again and remained standing there for a while, staring at the black fabric. An eerie feeling crept its way up her spine, but she shook it off together with the urge to run and hide. It lay in her nature to do so, ever since she got used to being a unicorn… She turned her head towards the human length mirror standing in the corner and turned a quarter to check her reflection. Her figure…her human figure. She was not a unicorn anymore…after what seemed like the longest year in her life, she had began to feel more like…her old self.

She frowned again and took a step closer. She was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of white shorts that Lady bought for her. She had also bought some other smaller pieces of clothes Maia didn't know what to do with. Something about doing Dante a favour…

Maia pursed her lips. With her hands she gathered up her hair and twisted it in a knot, holding it together with one hand and turned herself around on her heel and checking her back. She forgot what she looked like as a human…She probably didn't look much different before she became what she was today…an 'angel' or at least that's what Dante had called it. She wondered if she looked good for a human and if Dante... Wait what was she thinking? Where were these thoughts coming from!? Maia let go of her hair and placed her arms on her sides. Why did she want to know what Dante thought of her...?

By the way, where was Dante...? Her sensitive ears couldn't pick up any sounds coming from downstairs. Was he even in? Maia frowned and paced towards the bedroom door to open it. She trailed through the hallway and stepped on the open staircase that looked down on the dark office. No one was there.

Maia tilted her head slightly, her eyes scanning the floor below for any signs of movement, but there was nothing. She sighed. So she was alone then.

She started walking down the stairs, when a noise like shattering glass caught her attention. Her head shot swiftly towards the sound near the front door, eyes squinting in the darkness. In the light of the lanterns from outside, she could see shimmering pieces of glass lying on the floor next to the front door.

Maia exhaled slowly and continued down the stairs, keeping her cool. When downstairs she stopped, staying near the staircase and with her head turned towards the window to wait for what was to come. Suddenly a blast made the entire window explode. Pieces of glass flying through the office. Maia had to crouch down and cover her face with her arms and long hair to prevent to get hit.

She removed her arms when the sound had died somewhat and stared at the cloaked figure whom hovered in front of the window and floated in. Maia's eyes grew wide as she stared at the demon. Swiftly she stood up. Her hair parted in two over each one of her shoulders.

The demon breathed heavily as it came closer. "I found you." his cracking voice said.

"It appears so." Maia said in a soft but steady voice, although she did become very nervous.

The demon chuckled near her ear when it suddenly appeared behind her. "I see you're not so anxious to run away now. Nergal will be very pleased"

Maia could feel the demons hot breath on her neck and she resisted the urge to shudder.

The demon chuckled again and circled her until he was standing right there in front of her. "Not going to reply?" he asked. A grin formed on his shadowy old face, pure white teeth shimmering dangerously at her. "You know they are looking for you now?"

Maia snapped out of her angst and looked at him frowning. "What do you mean...? Why?"

He started to laugh as he noticed he got her attention now. Apparently she had no idea. "You're demon hunter knows...didn't he tell you? Rhea came to visit you."

"What?" Maia's clear voice didn't hide the surprise. "Rhea? That can't be true."

"Ah..." the demon said, his grin growing wider. "So you do remember her death. Alexander was growing weary of your memory returning. I guess he wasn't overreacting"

Maia frown grew deeper and she tilted her head at the information and the name the demon was giving her. "Of course I remember her death, she was...She..." Maia closed her eyes as her brain began to search for the memory that was tucked away so deep she couldn't reach it. "She was..."

The demon circled her again. "You don't remember everything, do you...But it will come...slowly it will come, and you will become more dangerous to Alexander. That's why he send my brother, Nergal, to find you..They made an agreement."

Maia's eyes shot open again and she stared at the demon. She had absolutely no idea what was happening, but this demon appeared to be the only resource who could explain to her what was going on. So she decided to suck in every inch of information he was going to give to her.

"But you know what Alexander forgot...?" the demon snickered, standing behind her again and placing his bony hands on her shoulders as he brought his lips to her left ear. "You should never trust a demon." This time when his breath touched her skin she failed to remain strong and quivered heavily under his hands. Maia cursed softly.

The demon smirked. His beady eyes staring at her silky long locks, his fingers trailing the light blonde waves ever so gently. "Oh yes, we've got a special surprise in store for Alexander and your family. You see they are looking for you my sweet."

Maia grimaced.

"And we are going to make sure that they will find you. And when they do...we will not only take your soul...but those of your brothers and sisters as well." His voice thrilled with anticipation as he envisioned all those pure souls being trapped in a demonic web, there for the grabbing.

"Why..." Maia turned around, making sure she took a step back as well to create some distance between them. "Why are they looking for me? I'm already being punished. I'm banned from the source, I can't use most of my powers...Why are they looking for me!?" Maia exclaimed, stepping over her fear for the demon.

He snickered and stared at her. "You mean you don't know...? I just told you right...You're beginning to remember."

"Remember what?" Maia asked, demanding an answer. Apparently this demon knew more about her past then she did.

The demon cocked his head to a side. "How did Rhea die?" he asked in a very sweet voice.

She frowned at him, trying to retrieve the memory. "Rhea died...giving her life for a human. The sacrifice, she completed her task."

The demon laughed loudly at her ignorance only confusing her more. "My sweet sweet Maia. Let me ask this again...How did Rhea, or should I say 'Katherine' die?"

Maia gasped as her thoughts shot back to the nightmare she'd had only moments ago."Katherine..." she breathed, some of the pieces falling together in her head.

"Yes..." the demon whispered, appearing right next to her again. She could feel his cloak tickling her arm. "Yes...you remember something don't you...?"

Maia squeezed her eyes shot as she felt a headache come up. Her hand shot up to her temple, to press her palm against it.

"Keep remembering..." the demon's voice sang. "Then Alexander and everybody will come. And they will die die die." His laughter echoed through the building.

The demon took her away from her safehouse. Impatiently he pushed her through the shattered window. Maia winched inwardly, when a piece of glass sticking out of the window frame, cut through the fabric of her shirt and into the skin of her upper left arm. She could feel the blood seeping through the wound, and soaking the sleeve of her shirt, but she ignored it.

"Let's go, my sweet." the demon said and snickered. He pushed her again, down the street.

Yet Maia stopped a few feet later, dead in her tracks when another figure came into view.

The demon, who hadn't noticed this, grew impatient. "Move." he growled into her ear.

Maia just stared at the figure at the end of the street. It came closer.

"Well well..." a female voice said.

"Rhea." Maia stated. Seeing her old friend filled up more gaps in her memory, but the fact that Rhea had died in front of her eyes and that she was now standing in front of her, was something she didn't quite understand yet. What was she even doing here?

Rhea smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hello Maia." She turned her gaze towards the demon. "And who might you be?"

Maia narrowed her eyes. So Rhea claimed not to know this demon...or was it a trick?

The demon snarled. "My brother send me to retrieve her, as 'someone' refused to help." He grabbed Maia roughly by her injured arm, making her hiss softly.

"I see..." Rhea said. "You need to leave though."

The demon laughed. "No." he stated, and walked into the other direction, pulling Maia with him. Yet there Rhea stood, on the other side. The demon frowned, looking back over his shoulder, to see the space where Rhea had just stood to be empty.

"Leave." Rhea repeated. "Nergal will get what he was promised. But not now." Rhea said calmly, yet there was a warning tone to her voice. "Leave."

The demon slowly let go of Maia's arm. "Fine." he whispered, sending shiver's up both the women's spine. "I will be back... You have my word." He retreated, creeping back into the darkness before he disappeared.

Maia kept her eyes locked on Rhea. "What was Nergal promised? Me? Are you working for them now? "

Rhea crossed her arms, ignoring her questions. "Long time no see."

Maia kept her cool. "Yes. Must be at least...400 years."

Rhea showed a cynical smile. "Give or take. Surprised to see me?"

"As a matter of fact..." Maia said, registering her sisters smile. "Yes."

Rhea snorted, her hands balling into fists. "Yes." she repeated angrily. "You want to know why you're surprised? Because you left me to die."

Maia frowned. "Yes I did. And yet here you are."

"That's because our brother had to step in!" Rhea took a few steps closer to Maia, eyes bewildered.

"Alexander? Really? It wasn't a demon?" Maia asked cynically. "And you 'work' for him now, because he brought you back to life? Under what terms Rhea?"

"He saved me from burning to death, 'Maia'..."

The images of that day, 400 years ago, flew through Maia's mind, but she suppressed them. "So now you owe him...?"

"You don't know anything." Rhea spat. "He saved me, and you didn't. You just stood there! And yes I owe Alex...I owe him my life."

Maia bit her lip, trying to comprehend with what Rhea was saying, compared to her still incomplete memory. She knew she had just stood there in the crowd. But there had been something preventing her from saving her sister. And what was Alexander's part in this...? There was something about him...if she could only remember. "I know...Rhea...I know, but don't think I didn't want to safe you, because I did." she said in a sincere voice.

Rhea shook her head slowly, looking at her sister in disappointment. "Then why didn't you..."

Maia sighed, looking down at the ground. "I...I don't remember. Rhea...I don't remember, I'm sorry."

"_I'm sorry Katherine...I can't let you die."_

"_Please...I am begging you...let it go Emily. They are waiting for me, I can feel it. I can hear them, please...let me go."_

Maia squinted her eyes at this new vision, a new headache coming up. She winched, pressing her palms on each side of her head. "Katherine..." she whispered.

Rhea's face fell. "What...?" she breathed.

Maia groaned, fighting against the stinging pain in her head.

"What did you say?" Rhea demanded. "Kathe..." she tried to repeat the name, but found that she couldn't. A piercing sting went through Rhea's head, making her clutch her own temples. Rhea winched, unfamiliar with the pain of this headache. "Stop it..." she hissed. "Stop it!"

Maia, looked at her through her narrowed eyes. What was happening? "Katherine?" she repeated. It was followed by another sharp pain in her head. Maia squeezed her eyes shut, fighting her headache. She felt herself blacking out as a vision appeared in her head.

"_What are you going to call him?"_

"_Thomas likes the name Dallin. Oh Emily, isn't he the most gorgeous child you have ever seen?"_

"_He is beautiful, Katherine."_

"_Em...would you...do you want to become his godmother?"_

"_I would be honoured!"_

After a while the pain was gone and she could notice that something was different within her mind. Maia carefully opened her eyes and sat up, scanning her surroundings. The street was empty, Rhea was gone.

Maia sighed. Her arm throbbed, there was still some blood coming out of the wound, but her thoughts were with Rhea.

* * *

**R and R**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter -10-

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Lady asked, confused.

Maia looked over her shoulder to find Lady standing behind her.

"Oh my...what happened?" Lady breathed, noticing Maia's bloody arm and the blood that was also coming out of her nose, which Maia wasn't even aware of.

"I had some visitors." Maia answered, shrugging.

* * *

Lady had just finished cleaning Maia's wound and was now rolling a white bandage around it to stop the bleeding. "So your friend has turned over to the dark side, hm?" Lady asked.

Maia, whom had been staring at the broken windows while pressing a white cloth to her nose, nodded. "Yes. And she's not the only one."

"So what now?" She had finished the bandage and was now looking at the guardian from aside.

Maia slowly breathed in and out, her arms lay limp at her sides as her hands rested in her lap. "I don't know. It's all one big mess. Especially in my head." She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the bits and pieces of memories that were flying by. "My memory is back now but...the fake memory also remains. It's difficult to separate one from the other."

Lady watched Maia's reflection, creating a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Maia...can I run something by you?"

Maia opened her eyes and looked at Lady. "Of course."

Out of the duffle bag Lady had been carrying when she arrived, she pulled an old weary looking book with a cover made out of leather. The colour of the cover used to be brown, but the thick layer of dust gave it a greyish appearance.

Curiously Maia watched as Lady opened the book and started skipping through the paging, clearly looking for some specific chapter.

"Here it is. I found this story in the library. I think...it's about your family." Lady said, turning the book towards Maia.

"What's this? You're having book club meetings here now?" Dante asked as he entered his office. He notices the broking glass on the floor and cursed. "What the fuck happened here!?" He shot an accusing glare towards Lady.

Lady just waved it away. "Don't worry about the glass, we'll fill you in later." She was watching Maia's expression while the guardian was reading the story, and casually read along with her.

"This story is false..." Maia said after reading the pages of the story Lady had given her.

"What story?" Dante asked confused, holding up his hands.

Lady shushed him. "Her memory is returning, be quiet."

The blonde haired female looked up from the scribbled letters. "There are some things that have occurred. Like the love between man and guardian which is described here." Her finger lingered on a passage in the book.

"But that wasn't you..." Lady stated unsure.

Maia shook her head. "No...it was Rhea..."

"About 500 years ago, Rhea came to me for advice. You see we became guardians in the same year, that's extremely remarkable. It gave us a strong bond. We were friends. Some say that we even knew each other from before we became what we are now. And that that is the reason why we know each other's human names."

"Human names?" Dante looked confused. "What so your name isn't Maia?"

Maia smiled softly. "It is, I am the guardian Maia. When you become a guardian, you leave behind your human life. But as a human I was born as Emily."

"Emily." Dante repeated. Somehow it suited her more then her guardian name.

Maia continued. "Rhea told me she had fallen in love with one of her subjects. His name was Thomas." Maia smiled when she remembered him. "For a human, he was quite extraordinary. I didn't blame her for falling in love with him, we are still part human so our feelings cannot be stopped. Rhea wanted out. She wanted a life with Thomas, a real life...as a human. She needed me to cover for her. Do her work so our 'superior' wouldn't notice. So I took...'dubbel shifts' so to say... Our gathering wasn't for another twelve years, so she had time to figure out what to do. She adapted her previous human form and stayed with Thomas, while I took her responsibilities as a guardian, as well as my own.

After a year, Thomas and Rhea...or Katherine (her human name) got married and they soon a child, Daniel." Her face lit up at mentioning the child. "Daniel was the most perfect little child I had ever seen. Even though in many ways it was impossible, Katherine had made me godmother." Maia's tinkling laugh filled the office. "They thought their happiness could last them forever. But they were wrong. Eight years into their marriage, Alexander found out about it and he became bitter. Or perhaps it was jealousy, I'm not sure...

He made Thomas ill...Thomas and Katherine thought it was a natural sickness, but it wasn't...I would find out later that it had been Alexander. When Thomas died, Alexander turned the villagers against Katherine and Daniel. They accused them of black magic, of murdering her own husband.

She was put in prison and her son, the 'demon spawn' in a different cell.

Alexander, whom was our superior, contact person for the source, our companion...our brother, told me to save Katherine. He told me he knew about her betrayal, but that our family was willing to give her another chance, if she came back to us. It was a lie, our family had no idea of what was going on. Alexander had just made it up, but I didn't know... We can only read the minds of humans, not of our own kind. Only higher guardians are able to search our minds."

"Wait...what?" Dante was sitting in his chair at his desk with his feet kicked up. "You can only read the minds of humans?"

Maia nodded. The devil hunter tilted his head. "Not of demons then?"

Maia shook her head. "Then how did you read mine that first night?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. Okay sure, he was only part demon, but still...it was bothering him.

"You have a human half. But...you're right. I can't read your mind." she confessed.

Dante blinked. "Then how did you..." That's when he stopped. Of course...they hadn't been alone in his office. Patty had been there as well.

Maia smiled as she noticed that Dante had figured it out.

"But then...that feeling..." he said, narrowing his eyes.

She shrugged. "You were coming in too close, I had to do something to stop you. You could have been out to kill me for all I knew. And I did try to read your mind, but your demon half is...quite strong."

Dante grinned smugly. "I don't like to brag, but...yes it is." He winked at her, earning a groan from Lady.

"Just let her continue the story already."

Maia nodded. "I visited her in her cell and told her this lie, but she wouldn't hear of it. _'It's okay Emily'_." She told me. "_I'm not scared. I will not abandon my son and we will both join my husband in death. It is alright. Let me die...please._'

Of course I was shocked, I didn't want my friend to die, but she pleaded and I caved. I would ignore my orders and let them burn at the stake. I wouldn't have come on judgement day if Katherine hadn't ask me to...She asked me to be there for her, in the crowd. _'Grand me this last request. Please be there. Just one friendly face in the crowd...You are my best friend, my sister, and I will love you always.'_ "

Maia clasped a hand over her mouth and stared at the ground her eyes began to sting. The memories were playing over and over in her head. She swallowed.

"So I was there...I was there and did nothing as many eyes watched them burn.

Alexander was furious. I had ignored him. He confronted me later, when I was alone, using force and anger that was uncommon for a guardian. I searched his eyes and that's when I saw it; a flash of red. He had made a pact with darkness. It was there for just a second, a mere second, but it was enough for me to know. He saw this and became nervous. He would surely be punished if our father found out about his true nature. Thus he attacked me. Used his combined powers of dark and light, crushing mine to the ground. That's when he erased my memory and replaced it for an image that would fit a suitable punishment. Then he pulled Rhea out of death, yanking her away from her son's frightened soul, erased her memory and told her he had saved her life and that I had left her to die. He turned my best friend against me. Of course there came a trial when Alexander told our father his story. I was taken to court where they sought my thoughts for the truth. That's when they found the memories Alexander had placed.

My punishment was an eternity as a unicorn on earth. Incapable of practicing the one goal in my life, protecting and saving souls."

Maia shuddered when she her mind flew back to a memory that was long forgotten.

"_You ignored my orders!" Alexander yelled at me, his long elegant form was covered in a silvery cape as he stormed towards me. I stayed put, my features unchanging. He was not going to intimidate me with his behaviour. "Alexander." I simply said as a greeting, acknowledging his presence. _

"_You...I am your spokesman. You should be following __my__ orders, but you ignored them! What do you think Gabriel would say if he found out you killed one of our sister's!?"_

_He was hovering over me now, with his tall figure. I slightly lifted my head, unimpressed and remaining the proud and strong guardian I was. "Rhea did not want to be saved. The soul of her son needed her. She wanted to be with her son and husband. I am certain that Gabriel will understand this."I answered calmly yet my counterpart seemed only to rise in anger._

_He narrowed his grey eyes at me dangerously, which made me frown somewhat. "It was not her choice...she had made a vow when she became a guardian."_

"_We did not have a choice either when we made that vow." I blurted out, and immediately snapped my mouth shut. I should not have said that. "Ah," Alexander said, stepping in closer, making me back up. "Are you saying you did not want to become what you are today...?" his tone of voice had changed, but the undertone was trembling with so much anger and hate that I could almost feel it._

"_Not me..." "Rhea..." Alexander answered for me. I sighed. "Look Alexander, a piece of Rhea had already died together with Thomas. Let them be...let them rest."_

"_No!" he yelled. I looked shocked. "She was never supposed to marry that...filthy disgusting human creature." He spat out each and every word and with each word my eyes grew wider. What had happened to Alexander that made him this...dark._

"_Human's are weak and feeble and even die when you give them a little bit of rat poison."_

"_What...?" I asked, stunned at what I was hearing. "What are you saying...have you been poisoning your subjects...?" my eyes widened when I realized something. "Did you poison Thomas...?" _

_Alexander snickered. "Yes..." he whispered. "That foul creature whom had defiled our sister. It had to be done." I was speechless, unable to remove my eyes from his as he continued. "It was destined to happen. So was the death of that little half-bred child of hers." His face cringed at the thought of the child._

"_What have you done..." I whispered in disbelief. "They were happy...she was happy and you destroyed it."_

"_She was never supposed to be happy!" Alexander yelled in my face. "She is a slave Maia...just like you and me; a slave to the Light, the Source! Forever helping and serving our subjects, souls that don't deserve our help. We are better than them, stronger! We can overpower all if we use our true potential but 'No!', Gabriel wants us to remain the slaves that we are."_

_Alexander's body started to tremble during his rant. I watched him with a mixture of horror and amazement. I searched his eyes for a hint of the old Alexander, and that's when I saw it 'a flash of red'. It was there for just a second, a mere second, but it was enough._

"_What have you become...?" I asked, snapping him out of his rant and catching his attention. "You've crossed...You are no longer a bringer of light, but one of darkness. What have you done Alexander!?" I said, raising my voice. _

_Alexander's eyes became wide of shock and there it was again, the flash of red. I knew I was in danger. We were there alone, no one was paying us any attention. "So now you know." he mumbled, as I watched his trembling hands grabbing my shoulders. _

"_You leave me no choice." He said. His face was completely emotionless. He had sacrificed his humanity for demonic power. He moved in closer, his hands slowly reaching for my neck. "It will endanger my plan, everything! The word must not get out.."_

* * *

**R and R**


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